Santa Compaña
by Vickie1
Summary: Santa Compaña. It is a belief Iria McLenlan's mother once told her about – a procession of the dead in torment that follows a mortal down the path of a parish at midnight. A woman of science like herself has outgrown these Galician myths. However, on the 1st January 2001, midnight, she will have no choice but to walk down that blooded path... [CODE: Kronos DLC fic]
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.

 **RESIDENT EVIL**

 **Santa Compaña**

By Vickie1

* * *

 _Summary: Santa Compaña. It is a belief Iria McLenlan's mother once told her about – a procession of the dead in torment that follows a mortal down the path of a parish at midnight. A woman of science like herself has outgrown these Galician myths. However, on the 1st January 2000, midnight, she will have no choice but to walk down that blooded path..._

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

 _"Kiddo. You don't scare me at all because I **know** what it's like to be a monster..."_

 ***/*/*/***

 _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!_

THAT WAS THE ONLY SOUND that her mind didn't block out. It was a better choice than the dreary, muttering conversation around her. More pleasant-sounding than the voices talking about statistics and numbers...

The subject was constant, never-dying, monotonous enough to make her ears bleed - it was pointless for her to keep track with the blurred out faces surrounding her. Yes, she knew the topic printed within the white sheets on the table. She knew the six people with highly-important names and statuses in the small room.

But she didn't share the ecstasy over the topic. It was all mundane.

Her distractions were the videos. And this was the second time.

It wasn't in her list of priorities to examine them. If it was someone else in her position, it'd be simply a report from a lackey who strained their eyes from day to night and vice versa to see them. But she couldn't help it. Curiosity got the better of her to hit the play button.

The bloodied, mutilated bodies on prison walls and iced floors. The risen corpses twisted in form and hungry for blood. A terrifying 48-hour-long event behind grey snow and she endured all of that.

She had heard about the old Umbrella prison being eradicated by the falling hand of its own benefactor. Half of her wished the nearly-damaged videos had burned along with them - some sheer sick luck that the techs downstairs managed to recover most of the data and she had watched all of it. Now and then, she saw a familiar face from her old college days in the monitor. Probably arrested by Umbrella themselves and tossed there for the crime.

How ironic. Had it been more than six years ago and if Carme hadn't said anything, she would had gone naively to work under Umbrella. Perhaps even landing in that prison herself. But the outcome of the other choice she made otherwise was just as morbid as what could have happened if she were to learn the red-and-white-logoed company's hidden agendas.

She was on the last stretch, ready to throw in the towel and find a bin to throw up until two unknown strangers in the video perked her interest, returning hazel eyes to the screen. As diligently as they tried to escape the horrors in the tapes, she took it upon herself to keep watching.

She had to. She needed to understand what happened...

A brunette and a redhead. That was all she could go by. If she had to guess, their ages were between late teens to early twenties by their appearances.

A voice seemed to call out to her as the scenes replayed in her head again and again. Muffled really but she paid no attention.

She had dove down to the memories like an out-of-body-experience in that meeting room.

The dark blood-filled chambers.

That strange woman in purple, hiding in the background.

The poor young lad captured and pinned down onto a throne in the cold lands of Antarctica.

And him undergoing a horrible transformation before the eyes of the brunette.

A part of her actually wanted to intervene. Somehow. But that was the past, she was in the present.

Again, the deafened voice called out to her.

She watched - an outsider to the recorded theater show. The climax building up. The tentacles wrapping around the running young woman and the escalating of the enormous ceremonial axe above her head.

But there was a fraction that she saw. A moment of hesitation.

 _You stopped yourself, didn't you?_

In the next seconds, she grimly replayed that one scene in her head; watching the green monster be easily taken down for his retaliation.

BAM!

 **" _McLenlan!_ "**

It was a snap, the thoughts dispersing by the slam on the table. The tapping of the pen by her own intention ceased as her trance stopped - a wake-up into grim reality.

"Are you listening! ?" bellowed the lead scientist to her left.

The videos immediately dispersed from her mind. Ah, right. Back to the 'matter' at hand.

She wasn't at the tech rooms. She wasn't in front of the monitors, watching what could be considered a snuff film if anyone was that oblivious in order to save their own sanity.

The head director was in fact, in one of those stuffy meeting rooms in the research floor. In front of eyes, the sight of her daydreaming was taboo to her employees. She could hear their thoughts easily - _How could she have doze off like that? Doesn't she know the severity? Why was she even chosen as the director! ?_

It was particularly a sign for her to have her role be revoked and given to them, a better choice. Didn't matter her reputation, didn't matter her skills and expertise! Her silly work ethics would be the death of them! A leader gone offline in the head instead of discussing together with intelligent minds to further the potential out of their creation.

 _Their_? If anything, she wanted no part in that abomination. In fact, she'd gladly give them all the credit.

Iria McLenlan was just too tired to care.

"Yes?" On the spot, she reclaimed back her indifferent mask. "What is it?"

* * *

Vickie: HELLLLLLOOOOOO everyone! Here is a little CODE: Kronos DLC fanfic. Yup, it's a DLC and it links to my main fic. And this is gonna be some insight of the 1st outbreak inside Theseus Research Facility and my OC, Iria McLenlan.

And you know what? Because this is 'mostly' an OC fanfic...THIS FIC IS GONNA BE SKIMMED OVER BY A LOT OF YOU! Yeah, I know the deal. Not many people like reading OC fanfics. They want their "OH CHRIS GIVE ME YOUR LOVE" SLURPY SLURPY SLURPY TONGUE TOUCH TOUCH and all those sappy romance fics. They don't care about originality in Resident Evil. They want to read about wild animal sex between their fav characters in a love pile. Admit it, THE REASON WHY YOU ARE CLOSING THIS FIC BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MEET TO YOUR ROMANCE EXPECTATIONS!

It's a damn pity that very good-written fics aren't encouraged or don't get a lot of reviews...

Ahem, sorry for my temper but for those who enjoyed reading this prologue, thank you for taking the time to read this and wanting to see what comes out of it. My intention for this fic is yes, considered a DLC because I'm also gonna be thinking of game design like I've done for CODE: Kronos but with changes as this is only about Iria. And what the gameplay would be is...equivalent to Alien Isolation but in a Resident Evil-themed outbreak. JOY~! Best part: You aren't a skilled muscular gunman who can punch a boulder (coughstupidwritingplotcough), you're a scientist with almost little military expertise and only her high intelligence! ):D Brilliant. So yes, this is a single-player game idea.

Anyway, I'll be a little slow on this one and another upcoming fic as later chapters will give spoilers to my main fic, CODE: Kronos. I intend to use all of them as the writing and planning will help me figure out put more depths into things like characters, locations, even for RE characters themselves. So I apologize if I take too long or that I'm working on the main one, and I thank you greatly for reading this fic and taking your time for the next chapter. :) Please review too, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Also, for those who are interested if there are any RE characters in this fic...sigh, there are two, one being Wesker but they make rare appearances in the fic. :/


	2. Chapter One: Two Steps From the Edge

Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.

* * *

 **Chapter One: Two Steps From the Edge**

* * *

FOR A HEAD DIRECTOR OF ONLY ONE YEAR AND FOUR MONTHS overseeing the entirety of the Theseus Research Facility, the stress was visible. It might had sliced off a decade of her life already because Iria felt very much drained with the daily and crucial workload.

It was just another day for her; going over every little detail on HELIX's loved child, the Kronos Virus.

The most deadliest retrovirus mankind had ever created, more lethal than compared to the t-virus or many names contained tightly within the facility's thick walls.

There was not a single moment that Iria wished she had one day of never hearing that name.

So she was more relieved to step out from the meeting room once the conversation was over, not without a few spiteful glares from the other scientists and associate directors.

It wasn't like she asked for this position. And even if she'd step down, happily handling the seat to one of them...it'd simply be given satisfaction to that _**bastard**_.

A cold splash to the face barely had any effort to dull out the strain and exhaustion. How many times had she gone to the bathroom today just for the sink? She lost count already. However, as she rose up, it had been the first time she truly gazed at her own reflection.

She looked awful. The last time she ever looked like that was overworking on a college thesis for a whole week.

Iria took a hard look at her blurry self. There were new wrinkles that weren't there yesterday... Even, her blouse and work pants were at their worst after a whole day and night. She immediately ran her fingers through her wavy hair to untangle the small knots, pulling off the rubber band and thus, she took it upon herself to neatly tie it back up. She unbuttoned the first two of her lab coat, at least seemingly relieving her of lingering suffocation.

Another few seconds in front of the mirror and she knew she couldn't stay any longer. She had an image to uphold.

She wonder how the pervious director managed all this tension. Sadly, there was no way she could ask Stein up front.

"So the same old talk as always?"

A glance to her left and sure enough, the African American woman had found her in the ladies.

Iria wore back her glasses and beamed a light smile.

"As dull as ditchwater. Another minute and I'd knock myself off from boredom."

"I can believe that, hon. K-Virus this, k-Virus that. 24/7. Everyone's either too frightened or too uninterested on changing the subjects."

"What do you expect? There's nothing much to talk about that HELIX's praised product. What could change the world, the same mindless 'make a difference' talk to keep us focused on this project."

"Make us into the obedient drones they want. Hold us as hostages for nearly five years, blackmail us, threaten us, scare us out of our wits, making us slave day in, day out. If the BPD heard about the crimes HELIX's been doing, they'd be arresting them in no time flat. Heck, tell the whole world and the whole company goes down like Umbrella."

There had been many attempts Kailey Bernard wanted to contact her old workplace, once a DNA analyst before having enough of the work - a few times she had stepped over the line. The victims, the reasons behind the crimes, it became too much for her despite how damn good of a job she did.

Then again, her choice to work under HELIX was worst than leaving BPD Investigations Division.

No witty remarks back - she had expected something from Iria but nothing did. The staggering pause just poked more into her concern the longer it took.

"You alright? You seemed out today."

Iria massaged the bridge of her nose. "Aren't we all?" She breathed deeply. "Guess I'm just a bit worn out these past few days."

"Nothing family related?" It was a wary subject to touch, but Kailey had to press with her deduction skills.

And before her eyes, Iria hesitated to reply. She then waved back a smile. "It's alright. Nothing bad. Really."

Kailey sighed. She knew full well not to push.

"Well, hope you're ready for more bad news then. He's here."

A frown sketched deep into the blonde's face. "Which one?"

"Both. But if it makes you a bit better, it's the one HELIX sent that wants to see you."

"Of course..." Well, she couldn't complain about that - only that the day wasn't over. It was barely into the break of evening. So no rest for the 'wicked' director. "Where is he?"

"Near the elevator. All too 'eager' to sit back at administration and particularly charged right down here instead of waiting. Shouting that he doesn't care about the details, he wants to see the results up front."

"Hmph," Iria huffed. "Couldn't read numbers to save his own life." She prepared herself, letting by another pause of silence. "Well, we better not keep him waiting any longer. The faster he sees everything, the faster he's gone on his little luxury plane."

Kailey nodded in agreement and the two ladies stepped into the white halls.

"So how much of a snob is he?"

"The classic rich one who rode on the tailcoats of his daddy. A germaphobe too. Jerk changed his fancy gloves for a new pair when I shook his hands."

"Sounds terrific."

"Indeed. I wanted to punch the white man because I thought he was being racist."

"Wish you did. I'll make sure he doesn't come after you."

"Oh, now that's a fight I'd love to see. Too bad these HCF guards are too close on our necks," Kailey murmured.

She fell silent as two thugs steadily walked past them in the hallway. No exchange of glances but then again, she didn't want to be peering into those inhuman red eyes.

These men came and went as they pleased inside the research facility, their boss's way of keeping an eye out or on rare occurrences, be tested against HELIX's abundance of horrified creations. Sometimes, an order. Sometimes, a joke.

It wasn't uncommon for those men in black uniforms to cause a ruckus among the staff. All out of fun in toying with the 'humans'.

"Ignore them." Iria's steel voice steered Kailey away from the guards, that calm tone of a leader ensuring her nothing bad would happen. "They know they can't do much to us. We're just precious cargo after all."

"Isn't that true?" That was the only one fact everyone appreciated, as horribly bleak as it may be. It was the one fact that protected them. They were too important - all for the sake of the dark projects, including the most prized and treasured one.

And yet, a single slip off could easily destroy their only ward of protection.

"That's him," Kailey pointed both verbally and physically.

Oh, yes, the visitor of the day was as what Kailey had said, a classic snob - the kind with an expensive suit and polished shoes that had more zeroes than those even on her paycheck. Perhaps even one tiny blotch would drive him to strip them off and toss them into the incinerator. Clean shaved and brushed back, glazed titian hair and watchful dull grayish-blue eyes.

And such a corny-looking scarf. Avant-grade? Iria was never into arts.

Not too far from the lackey of the board of CEOs was a Hispanic woman, irritated with whitened knuckles. She desperately wheeled around for some sign of escape until she finally noticed Iria and Kailey walking down the hallway.

"McLenlan," the Spanish lady whined worriedly, warily unsure to leave the guest alone on the account he could stupidly wonder off. But seeing the director approaching, she softly rushed over to Iria. "I am so sorry, Iria. I tried to stop him but he, he refused. And..."

On the spot, Iria could tell her cage was rattled. Flustered. A clear sign of shaking fists - she clearly wanted the claw the eyeballs out of the man's sockets because of his foul tongue. What happened that caused her to lose her calm, collected mood were minutes before the two women arrived to the scene.

If it had been someone else in Iria's position, they'd brush her off and reproach her for such an attitude towards a VIP. However, Iria wasn't that kind of person. And nobody inside the facility had the same 'gift' as she possessed.

It was inescapable - when the name, Iria McLenlan, was spoken out, instantly people would know. The youngest sister of Carme McLenlan. The highly intelligent McLenlan sisters. World-renowned for tackling the hardest medical and biological questions at such young ages. To a certain degree compared to her older sister's fame.

But no one knew how the intelligence in her head worked better than she did. Her perception...had a way of dissecting, analyzing and theorising everything and anything to gain more information. From action and reaction, statistic and detail. As quick as the tiny electric currents inside her gray matter swishing about, she managed to construct a result - turn a problem into hypothesis into a test into an outcome in under seconds.

This natural ability have been helpful to her throughout her life and her career, sadly also a curse benefitting the k-Virus project. However, when it came to people...it was a slightly different story.

Because people were sometimes unpredictable.

In a split second, Iria examined the newcomer one more time. Kept his hands behind, his body in a poised manner but with one twitchy toe - disliking his time being wasted the longer he waited. No response to passing staff - showing no interest to those of status lower than his. A complete lack of empathy this man showed while silently boosting his reputation higher and higher into the clouds.

There was one quick glance she took note, too fast for anyone else - a hint, a very small hint of contempt towards two colour-skinned scientists that walked by.

...Yup, she was going to have a thrilling night.

Some people would call this being judgmental. Perhaps. Didn't matter. That was how her brain worked.

"It's ok, Joanne. I'll handle him. Continue with work, ok?"

The young woman relaxed but was hesitate, a visible sign to be leaving her with a jackass but with a nod from Kailey, Joanne was assured the director wouldn't be alone and took off.

"If I start to lose it, stop me quickly," Iria whispered.

"First sign of a fist and I'll get us out."

"Ah, Director McLenlan. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance for the first time," the high-ranking official greeted the moment he sighted the blond-haired boss. "My name is Nash Krauss."

A suck-up no less. Sugar-talking to her so she'd give the thumbs up to the bosses at HELIX HQ.

"It's a pleasure as well, Mr Krauss," Iria lied, rising her hand out.

"Please. Call me Nash." He shook it with a sultry grin and right before her, he weaved his hands out of his gloves and ditched the tainted ones to the floor. The businessman forked out a silver thin box from within his jacket and from that, he pulled out a clean set for his hands. "I apologise on behalf of the company for this sudden visit at this hour. I've been sent here to account the recent investments and security upgrades for assurance. See them with my own eyes up close rather than hear it from the middleman."

Kailey's eyes bugged out wide, disbelieving what she had saw. How many gloves did he carry and how could an dumbass like him still work with an attitude like that! ?

"I understand. We will make this visit as short as possible."

Well, she had to admire Iria's composure - reinforced to endure those snapping remarks

"That would be fantastic. I don't want to take too much of your time." Iria took the lead, Kailey close by and the man exactly three feet behind them. "I believe all is in order for the Kronos Project? We've not had any updates for the last four months."

"We are still running more tests on the new variant for signs of rejection but you do not have to worry. Latest tests show that the phagocytosis process between viruses are reasonable."

"Ah, right. This virus is...capable of combining with others, correct?"

So he knew what the virus was in laymen's term.

"In a matter of speaking. The Kronos virus absorbs certain biological traits from other existing viruses to make them its own, including the host's. This _devouring_ is the phagocytosis process. However, there can be many unpredictable outcomes, sometimes resulting the host in becoming a _rebound_."

"Rebound?"

"A state of mutation where the body becomes biologically disconnected with the virus' symbiosis and the devouring becomes uncontrollable. Basically, nothing more than bags of meat." A twist of sickness crept on Krauss' face at the imagination, as quick as it had left him. "The virus makes every attempt to devour other substances constantly and to the point of self-destruction. We have had too many failed incidents when introducing the g-Virus with the k-Virus. Hence, these tests are important for the purpose of lessening the chance of a rebound."

"I-I see. I have heard that is the reason for the upgrade on security and including AI research into the system."

"We need to take every precaution and as much of it. We have had an accident more than a year ago-"

"Yes, yes. The previous director and a few personal," he brushed it off so easy. "Unfortunate, indeed." Both Iria and Kailey quietly grimaced in response but the short silence was ignored. "So has there been any successful tests?"

"Besides all that you know about the full progress of the K-Project, a new bioweapon specimen has been developed from the recent variant."

And like that, it was the magic word. "Ah! A new BOW type. The board will be pleased to hear that."

Following the two women, they walked into a room similar to any other room inside the research level but with one purpose. Others would be of jotting down specimens' behaviours or viral engineering and development or much more but the purpose of that room was more of an surgery.

All because HELIX found them too valuable to dispose off after the discovery of a serum.

The room was divided into two by bulletproof glass. Beyond the panel of the observation room, five people in heavy suits were at work on something large sprawled across the operating table - the fancy, high tech machines taking over the scalpel and needle rather than in the hands of a surgeon.

Krauss tightened his gaze. Whatever he was looking for, he couldn't see a huge, destructive monster like he had expected. Much of the machinery and operating curtains had hid its form. The only indication of its existence were the real-time x-rays and 3D scans on the monitors.

"Specimen name, Stheno. BOW type, Hesperides."

The name was indeed impressive. But still, he could not get a good look at the BOW.

"Faster, smarter, deadlier than previous BOWs. It can bat down a Tyrant in a single swap."

Simple words. That was all Kraus wanted to hear from Iria.

"We have also discovered this BOW has the ability to control Erinyes through vocals and dominance from our last combat tests. A bit like an alpha taking lead."

"Fascinating," Krauss gasped. "How many Hesperides do we have?"

"Only this one. Stheno is the second Hesperides we have created."

"What happened to the first?"

"Unfortunately, the first one, Medusa, had to be euthanized due to nervous and respiratory complications. The team in charge of the Hesperides creation suggest it's a setback from the t-Veronica virus conflicting with the Kronos virus but that's a theory. Stheno has apparently sustained similar problems even with massive genome splicing. That is why we have moved her to this ward to fix them. After the operation and recovery, Stheno will be moved up for combat testing."

"Oh, that is good! Too bad though. I would have enjoyed seeing that show."

Right, watch two brutes tear and rip with a sea of blood across the combat chamber.

Seeing there was no point in hoping for a better glimpse, Krauss walked out of the small observation room. Iria again took the lead.

"Still, isn't it dangerous to have a BOW like that down here?"

"All security precautions have been prepared in case of an outbreak. As you said, we've implemented the artificial intelligence research into the system thanks to the technological quadrant."

As he was about to open his mouth, another question to open up the layers that left him confused, the floor lightly trembled under his feet. For the two women and every staff walking down the halls, the small little tremors were something daily and nothing to fear of.

"What-" His hand launched for a railing to steady his balance.

In a methodical, tick-tocking pace, a large bipedal machine trotted down the same hall they shared. Shimmering burnished metal plated body with a large weapon - changeable from bullets to grenades to even harpoons - slotted onto one of its metal claws. A tank basically, enough to battle and tackle down a BOW without severely damaging it.

Its red digital eyes scanned about, clearly ignoring the non-infected humans around it and sending shivers down the pitiful corporate man. Well, it was natural for the machine easily towered just as a Tyrant. The good side was that the spaces were large enough for the drone to roam freely without accidently squashing into a living being.

"Meet Talos. Beta 3.5. We have 50 models stationed throughout this level and the lower levels. By the next month, two more model types, Strix and Laelaps will be added."

Krauss didn't pry more questions about the names. He was all too amazed at the giant drone, which eventually, both it and its little quakes disappeared down the end of the hall. So this was what the AI research team have been creating - robots of war but instead of moving them to be sold as weapons, HELIX had decided on inputting them into security after an incident.

And why should they? Bioweapons were on the rage because of the infinite capabilities that a computer could not replicate. BOWs were a means of rapid evolution, of gaining every form of immorality, a computer AI was a series of numbers inside a box. However, it would have been a bonus to combine AI and BOW to create the most powerful weapon of all - under the rumours in the black market that Umbrella had once created such combination of metal, meat and power.

So if HELIX could beat the other competitions in producing a BOW of AI, that would be one big step up. Sadly, neuroscience was still at its primitive state, experimental if anything.

"So are these machines remote-controlled?"

"Yes and no. Talos are operative by control central on this floor, not just by operators but also by our newest mainframe, GAIAN," Iria explained. "Genetic and Artificial Intelligence Access Network."

A thumb upwards and Krauss' glance followed suit. Sure enough, rooted into the ceiling were in a way, security cameras but instead of lens, they looked more like red cybernetic eyes from an old sci-fi movie.

"Is it a good idea to have a computer run this place?"

" _Do you have an inquiry about my functionality, Visitor 97 Nash W. Krauss?_ "

Krauss jumped. It was a legit jump out of his skin at the sound of the strange, computerized female voice that spoke from above. He searched about for the source frantically until he stared back at the red eye.

"Mr. Krauss. Meet GAIAN."

"S-She can hear me?"

"Every single word. Every single action you do. Even your record. Creepy, no?" Iria uttered with straightforward effort.

" _Nash Wendall Krauss. American. HELIX official from the USA headquarters. Born in New Hampsire, 1971. Arrived in Cape Inacio at 8:19 PM due to flight delay by extreme weathers instead at appointed time, 3:00 PM._ "

"I-Impressive." The remark sounded forced, not out of praise. His privacy was invaded and opened up for anyone in the radius to hear.

"Human error is what causes accidents and outbreaks. With a supercomputer like GAIAN, any specimens or viral pandemic will have zero chance of escape," Iria railed on coolly. "She has absolute control of the entire facility - ventilations, crooks, corners, everything. Nothing can get out or in."

There was a twitch of uneasiness. The idea of being trapped inside with crawling specimens did not sit well on Krauss. After all, there had been many outbreaks before and from those, HELIX improved everything to lower any chance.

"There's no way of getting out? For non-infected, I mean."

"GAIAN is the only one who controls the lockdowns. She will undo them if there are no infected escapees detected. However, personnel with Level Six keycards can bypass the lockdowns." Iria lifted up the thin card with two blue diagonal strips - intertwined with each other - connected to the lanyard around her neck.

The special keycard to open every single door without any problem. Only a handful wore or carried it like an _honoured_ badge, besides herself.

The two Chiefs of Staff and Management. Three Chiefs of the Office of Science Quality and Integrity.

Ironically, R&D Supervisor, Albert Wesker.

And seven minor Associate Directors in charge of microbiology, neuroscience, parasitology, biochemistry, genetics, biological engineering and artificial intelligence. But with some privileges removed on their keycards.

"Once lockdown procedure has finished, security squads will start their procedures to direct staff back to the surface. There are designated safe areas where personnel can stay protected until rescue arrives."

Relief washed over his face as Krauss attempted to straighten his scarf. "That's good. That's good. Hopefully, we don't have an accident tonight."

Onwards with the tour.

"There is no need to worry about that. All Kronos variants and collected viruses are secured tight. The only way they could ever be taken out in from their canisters would be one of us walked in and took it out. But even then, they wouldn't be able to get by GAIAN's scans. As of right now, the only danger to worry about is Stheno and she is under heavy sedation."

"And what about that room?"

Her gaze traced along the direction of his one gloved finger and the target immediately stopped her in her tracks.

That one particular space in the entire research ward.

"...Nothing of interest," she replied charily. A little more protectively. "Just a small side project."

Krauss raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "And what per se is this project for?"

"It is experimental at the moment. Tests are still incomplete for a definite answer."

"That was what I was asking for, McLenlan." He folded his arms behind him. One more time, answer him correctly. He didn't want any bit of funding falling through the cracks because of an little _experiment_.

"You have nothing to worry about. This project is under Wesker's account personally."

That surprised Krauss. "His investment, hm? Now I am curious. Don't take this the wrong way, I have nothing against Mr. Wesker. He has been given great contributions to this company for years now. But...what particular reason does he have for this one project?"

Good question. That man had too many secrets, too many agendas under his sleeve and even with this little 'project', she could only guess.

He was unreadable to Iria. And she hated that.

And great contributions? She had never once trusted that man since he walked right into the facility the first day of his arrival and suddenly, the rules were changed drastically.

That day of him taking over the Kronos Project was the day the doors to the world locked up on all of them.

"I am sorry. You will have to ask Wesker himself. He has ordered me and a few personnel strictly not to give any information until the project has...become successful."

The titian-haired man stiffened. A big no-no clearly. So Wesker had his hand deeper into the company as well... "Very well. Shall we continue?"

And with no objection, the three walked onwards.

"I must say, a few from the board and even I had a lot of doubts about the changes. But you certainly prove me wrong. I admire your tenacity, Iria."

Already on first name basis? Now she really wished he'd kept quiet instead of droning.

"You've just become director and turned this place into something promising. With you in charge, the entire project of the Kronos Virus will yield great profit. As expected of the famous Carme McLenlan's little sister."

That was when Iria stopped.

As in dead stopped.

Oh no. Kailey bit her lip but did nothing else.

Krauss paid no attention to the sudden halt, brushing forward with enthusiasm. "It's very unfortunate about her death. She would have been a great asset working here. Why, the ideas she had? Would have given great possibilities with the Kronos Virus, wouldn't you say? Still, you are here so that's not a total loss."

The one subject that _**no one**_ was allowed to talk about. And already, Kailey knew the expression the woman right next to her had.

How dark and narrowed Iria's glare was to the naive rambling man.

Carme McLenlan. Her reputation was unmatched to many intelligent minds combined for many reasons - one for her theories and revolutionary ideas. For few, they had called her insane for grasping at straws but she had successfully proven them wrong.

It was indeed unfortunate that she died young six years ago. The gifted woman easily taken down by a small accident.

So talking about her was something unavoidable. Now and then, the topic about her would slither unexpectedly.

But praising her sister like a martyr was nothing but a death sentence.

Worse, it insulted Iria. Like they knew her sister better than her.

They knew _**nothing**_ about the real Carme, only her famed persona in the world of medicine, science and medical psychology.

It was the same tiring speech.

" _I'm so sorry for your loss. She was the best of the best._ "

" _It's so terrible, losing a brilliant mind like that._ "

" _The things she made, she could have changed the world._ "

" _You are still here. You can continue on her work. She would have wanted that._ "

" _Her name will go down in history._ "

She had lost a beloved sister. Not an idol.

Kailey could tell she had every attempt to rip a hole into the blabbering man but before she could stop her...

"I apologise, Mr. Krauss. We will have to cut this tour short."

The cold, unruffled response baffled Krauss on the spot. Enough to cut him down.

"Excuse me?"

"It's very inconvenient that you had been pressured to arrive here this late. That being said, it is also late and I still have other matters to attend to. It'd be best to continue this visit tomorrow."

"What?"

Iria knew. Cutting halfway through this with the excuse she had other business to do would be crossing thin ice. From the aggravated twitching Krauss had there, he had surely expected himself to be leaving the island on that very same night.

But she didn't care.

"I'll send someone to take you back to Level A. This can be a good opportunity for you to relax after a long stiff trip. Tonight is the fireworks and every year, they do a fantastic job better than the last. I _**guarantee**_ you will enjoy it."

She had deliberately lowered her voice at one specific word, enough to sour the official's mood. Right now, Iria no longer cared about keeping a straight face just for the sake of order.

Her indifferent face was enough to tell him _back off or else_.

He opened his mouth, no doubt about to spit at her for her interrupted conclusion. But he halted back with the grounding of his teeth.

"Y-Yes, you're right... Tomorrow will do. Howe-"

Before Krauss could even continue or say anything else, Iria already wheeled around in a less caringly fashion with her employee followed suit.

Kailey glanced back a few times, seeing the steam slither out that man's ears - a prize-worthy expression to see.

But at what cost?

"That was bold of you to do that, Iria. You're not afraid of him spilling the beans to HELIX after that scene?"

"I don't care."

"Stop Iria." Quickly, the worried black woman rushed in front of her boss, once work-colleague but still a friend. "Maybe you're sick of this job but I care. Everyone cares that you keep your head in the game. You _**know**_ what happens to those who disobey the company."

Iria knew that one fact. Everyone working under HELIX on this little island knew it.

One moment of rebellion and your outcome of getting out alive would be slim. The choices of your executions were many, such as being gunned down by HFC guards or forced to become a specimen of the Kronos Virus.

Worst part, family members were included...

"Maybe they should."

That frightened Kailey.

"You don't mean that."

"...I'm sorry, Kail... I'm just not thinking straight today..."

"Iria, dear. You're overworked," Kailey grunted. "The New Year is just around the corner so it's time to put down the hatchet and _**take a break**_." Her tone rose at the last three words. "So tonight, you, Hannah and Randy are going to watch the fireworks. I'll be there. Zach and Victor, their families are going to be there. It'll do you good. What do you say?"

The offer was promising. The typical, yearly event that most of the islanders would head to the Blue Crab shack at 9. Seeing the annual sparks of colours in the night sky, smelling hot dogs and steak roasted on barbecue pits while the adults toast their drinks and the kids dart across the white sand.

Yes, anyone drowned in work would immediately take the chance to head to the surface.

"Thanks for the offer, Kail," she started, still holding her smile. "But I think tonight, I pass... Too many things on my mind."

Kailey drooped her shoulders dejectedly but her silence acknowledged the reply. "You know where to find us if you change your mind."

"Like always."

With goodbyes, the two women departed - one heading to the central elevators and one heading back into the labs.

Only one place interested Iria, the very one she wouldn't allow Krauss to enter. Visiting that one clinical room had somehow merged into her busy schedule and she had done so ritualistically for a week. A week after the _specimen_ was moved from the cryostatis chambers and even before that, she had constantly visited him in that frigid room since that trip to that lonely little outpost at the edge of Antarctica.

Iria wasn't sure why she constantly made an effort to see that comatose man laying on that slab with wires and tubes inside and out of his body.

Again, on that day, she stood right in front of that person in hospital pyjamas. Motionless. Unable to speak. He was now just a shell, routine nutrients, hydration and oxygen forced into his body to keep him alive.

Pointless, really. If he were to wake up now, he'd be riddled with nothing but spasms from any lack of muscle movement. And even if he _could_... She was conflicted to see him open those eyes at her. More afraid of the possible brain death.

The young red-haired lad who slept on that bed like a different tale of Sleeping Beauty.

Wait, bad choice of fairytale. The real version was much darker when she first found out...

Still, he was, in a manner of speaking, 'fresh as a daisy'. A week ago, he was a nothing but a frozen, well-preserved, blue-veined corpse. Against all odds, she managed to revive the once dead redhead, kept locked up in cyrostastis for a year.

All because of that hook, line and sinker that _**man**_ baited her into doing it...

Her glance trailed up to the chart laying at the side, another act that snaked into her habits. So she had read this a hundred times. She could easily recap every sentence, every number, every graph and every specific. And yet she reread the papers once more.

Steve Burnside.

Date of death, December, 15, 1998. Location of death, unknown Antarctica Base. Date of revival, December, 25, 2000. Original subject of the t-Veronica virus, now subject of new improved k-Veronica Sigma virus.

Blood type, AB. Height, 5 ft 8 in. Weight, 148 lb. Loss of weight noted.

Brain activity level, low. Eye response to speech and pain, low. Muscle response to pain, low. Blah, blah, blah.

The same results over and over. Basically, an unresponsive, comatose patient who was nothing more than a Petri dish and a factory.

The only lack of information was his backstory.

There was no chance of asking for that. She'd be told it would be irrelevant, especially by _**him**_...

She tossed the file back to its original spot and glanced back at the man.

Her perception went to work. Again. Skin still pale, veins fading off. Copper red hair, short and rebelliously styled. As young as the day she first saw his frozen corpse.

Oh.

Gently and lightly, her fingers drew up to the lad's red fringe and brushed it off his shut eyes. However, in mid-action, she stopped herself.

Again, she did this. She didn't even know why...

"I reckoned ya'd come by eventually, lassie."

She stirred away to the rich, thick Irish accent that easily crushed the silence tinted with beeping and humming. Standing with a huge, jolly grin, hands in pockets, was a stout Irish Indian man already well past his forty age mark. He was also in a mess, just like Iria but a whole day straight from 8:00 am would do that to anyone.

Surprisingly, the fatigue didn't bother him one bit - the beaming bright smile he shone out just penetrated the tiredness.

Prasad O'Hehir.

"It's that obvious?"

"O' course!" he chuckled. "He's starting to grow on ya now."

"Don't be silly. This is just part of a director's work."

"O' really?" He folded his arms, his soft grin plastered strong.

She sighed. "No. This is out of my own accord... I don't understand why... I don't even know him."

"But ya want to?"

Really? She wanted to? "...Is that weird? These are just specimens. They're not human anymore."

"Well, I beg to differ. They _**were**_ human. The question is are they still human?"

"If they are, they'd surely go mad at being lab rats. Reminds me too much about that short novel about a supercomputer toying on five humans... And I'm that supercomputer."

"Doubtful. That supercomputer didn't show guilt to his captives. You, however, are to this lad."

"I still don't understand why... I don't get it..."

It confused her - this unusual connection she found herself having. The most strangest part was that she had no answer to why.

No matter how hard she pushed her mind to analysing her fascination on this specimen, she couldn't understand. He wasn't some thrilling, interesting breakthrough for scientists to leap on and open him up like a present - she has pretty much grown tired of all of the viruses that went through her hands.

So why?

"Remember the day we were taken to Antarctica?"

She laughed softly at Prasad's question. A hmph, more like it. "Of course. All I could think was that bastard's way of taunting us with that smack of freedom in some frigid wasteland..."

"Then do you remember what I said when I saw his file?"

The small pinch of anger subsided. Yes, she remembered as clear as day. That one sentence Prasad gasped out when he read through the thin file. It was what started it all - her strange, unusual duty to visit the young man.

"...That he was as young as your son."

Prasad nodded, the smile wavering away. "Reason why you're as affected by this as I have been is 'cause this is the youngest specimen we've had here. This person is still a kid no matter how ya look at him."

"Seventeen isn't even a child's age."

"You said he isn't young now. I say he's still is. Still too young to know the world. It's that youthful time for everyone to learn mistakes and the ropes on their own because even grown-ups don't have all the answers yet. We all had been dere before. I was damn stupid around that age. My wife was my girlfriend back then. Gave me quite a slap to put some sense back into me."

The chuckle was shortlived. It was sad. Pitiful. Sure, people had pointed out that Prasad was too soft. Maybe. But he couldn't help but see this redhead anything else but a specimen.

Every other specimen were monstrous mutations of the k-Virus. This boy looked human. His vital signs were human. Everything about him was human.

So how could he easily say this was the same as the horrors they kept locked up below?

"Poor lad, though. He's struck here with us as our little virus plant," Prasad glowered lightly, glancing back at the neatly-placed testtubes beside the heart monitor. Recently extracted blood samples. "I bet ya that man's going to have him join him the moment he opens his eyes too."

That was a likely scenario, one Iria couldn't disagree. A possible outcome she actually started to fear... A definite ending of that man in black manipulating a puppet with a blank mind.

Frightfully...she didn't want a second Wesker.

"Possibility of him waking up is slim, Pras. And whether or not his mind is intact after a year of being dead." She laid out the mental cards and repeated them verbally. "20% he'll wake up as an amnesiac. 80% braindead... Funny thing... I want the latter..."

Iria gazed at her old friend with a guilty look.

"Sounds cruel of me, isn't it?"

He said nothing at first but he understood. Wesker would surely fill in those holes in the lad's head just as he had spun everyone around like headless chickens with his mind games.

"No, Lassie. Just being honest."

Honest...was that really it? Two words opposite of each other and yet too difficult for Iria to differentiate the two.

"Aah, enough of this grim talk." There was a need to change the atmosphere before he'd be seeing the poor lassie be suffocated underneath it. "Tell me. How's your cat doing?"

An eyebrow rose. "Really? You want to chit-chat now?"

"I can't just pretend to ignore that after you'd showed us those results. And anything sounds better than work."

"...Nothing changed. Phi is still as healthy as ever... Is it even possible for an animal to build a natural resistance in just a year?"

"Well, depending on the breed and genetic problems. And considering her diet...yeah, maybe. Ya still get those gifts from her?"

"Every single morning. One bird on the mat like always," she replied with disgust. "It has to them. They must have adapted long enough on this hostile island to be resistant to the old virus...but that's a theory."

"And it needs testing." Prasad warily checked up to the red eye above them, the mechanical retina scanning elsewhere and luckily not on their own conversation. "How bout you, me and Gordon go _birdwatching_ this weekend? This is one opportunity HELIX's not gonna take from us."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"Iria, natural selection has a funny, unpredictable way of changing things. If ya unknowingly discovered what I think ya did, this could be our trump card. We can't let them take this away like they did with Gordon's serum."

The mentioning of that name slowly saddened Iria on the spot, deepening an old cloak of shame on her.

Reopening wounds from a week ago.

"It's Gordon. He can't be angry at ya forever. Man's too foolish to keep a gauge."

"He should. I went behind his back."

"Because Wesker forced you into a corner." Prasad slugged his shoulders down, seeing the poor woman unconvinced. "Gordon will understand... And if not, I'll knock him again."

Her eyes widened. "Prasad, you didn't-"

"Now, now. This is something stubborn men need to do. And sometimes, men don't do well with words."

In order words, he did. And from the way he implied, Gordon returned the favour. Or tried.

"Really, you two. You shouldn't-"

He stopped her with a raise of a hand. "Working inside this bucket can drive anyone crazy. A good whack brings anyone's senses back. I should know."

Iria wanted to object. Not as a director at all but as a friend whose fault sparked out this shebang in the first place. If she had known, she'd have stopped their foolishness, yelling at the top of her voice at how stupid to see grown men wrestle at each other.

But his stern gaze took her this matter was long past and no point in digging it back up.

"Ok. I'll leave it alone. Still, I can't believe you."

Prasad loudly chuckled. "Well, you are my drinking bubby. Through thick and thin."

She nodded lightly.

Out of the entire staff, only Prasad had managed to make an impact on her. A man much older than her who had overheard that she'd be working under HELIX on the very first day of orientation, rushed up to her and greeted her spontaneously.

All because she was half Irish. Nothing about her reputation or achievements or that she was the sister of a famous woman. Just someone with similar roots that he could share inside their workplace.

She was terrified, hearing an accent thicker than her father's boom as her hand was shook in an exaggeratedly welcoming manner. Iria had been quite an introvert - sometimes still was at so Prasad's outright and ecstatic personality was something alien to her. Yet this Indian man managed to thaw out her little shell. She had even embraced more into her Irish culture, thanks to him.

In fact, if it wasn't for him, she'd not be a little more opened than she was in the past.

"What would I do without you, Prasad."

"Ya're a smart lassie. Ya'd figure things out even without me and Gordon."

She smiled. "I can't thank you enough. You and your family."

Another loud, bellowed chuckle. "Ah! What are next door neighbours for? Ya're already particularly family. Raj enjoys being like an older brother to your niece and nephew..."

Then it came as a surprise to her. A deep sigh heaved out of Prasad's sigh as his smile crept down in an indifferent approach.

This...Prasad had never looked like this before.

"Something wrong?"

He struggled in the silence. Wanted nothing to add more onto Iria's plate, worry her more with unnecessary news.

But it was too late, she was already glancing with concern.

"...I demanded HELIX to send Raj's application. Those hotshots denied ever taking his letter. Hmph. Like they can fool me that they're not burning our mail and hacking into our comps..." His eyes furrowed with distaste. "Know what they offered instead? Giving Raj a position to work here. Telling me he's a smart lad, give him special services because of his condition. I told them to bugger off."

"...Anything I can do?"

A shake of the head. "They never listened to Director Stein. They won't listen to you, Lassie."

Very true. She may have all the powers to maintain and oversee everything happened within the facility like clockwork but she was still powerless. One of many weak humans tangled in the twisted fishing nets HELIX has left out, expecting them to bait out more profit.

The conversation had derailed, no solutions to offer and rise Prasad's spirits up back.

In the end, Iria could say, "Which college is Raj looking into?"

"Trinity College. He had always wanted to see Dublin. Arya's proud of him to be visiting our hometown. But know what's the best part he told me? School's have wheelchair service." Another burst of laughter, enough to cut down the stiff bleakness and bring back Iria's gentle smirk to his regained happiness.

Good. She couldn't bear to see his persona be tainted by the dark atmosphere of this place.

"..I'll tell Raj to rewrite his application. Figure something out. If he gets accepted, HELIX has no choice but to let him go."

"Yeah... I'm sure of that." It was naively optimistic, a wretched thought under their circumstances but did that matter? She was hopeful - with some sheer luck, they could find a hole in HELIX's system. "I should let you get back to work. No good of keeping you longer down here."

"Nah. Don't feel right to be leaving this lad here on a night like this. I told Arya to go ahead without me."

"You sure, Prasad?"

"It's alright. They have Hannah and Randy. More the merry."

"That's good... Well, don't stay too late, Pras," Iria muttered before she headed for the entrance.

"Lassie."

She turned back.

"Bought me a new bottle of Irish whiskey. If ya're still around, I'll break it open and we'll continue our chess game."

It was an usual after-hour rite. Whenever work was at their stress or at their least, Prasad would stroll into the director's office and be her opponent in a game of chess. Four years playing on the polished Hornbeam and Beech wooden board - a memento of her father. As far as she had recalled, they've had only ties, never wins or losses. And she was the best chess player during her youth.

The drinks, offered by Prasad on his behalf, became a tradition for them to toast for special days - mainly Patrick's Day. He'd always come by with a bottle in one hand and two shot glasses in the other.

And every time she doused the alcohol down, her throat and insides burned from the blazing intensity. But she couldn't complain as one gulp of the very strong liquid seemed to reinvigorate her body.

"Of course. You left me in quite a predicament."

He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Ya should have seen that gambit coming a mile away."

Indeed. The Queen's Gambit took her by surprise that it left her unsure of her next move and eventually, they had to leave the game unfinished until the next time.

"Harris, Kath, Dae-hyun. Ya three should head back to the surface for the fireworks," Prasad then uttered to his three colleagues further inside the room. "I'll take care of the rest."

"You sure? It's no bother for us to stay."

"It's going to be the new year. No point in missing out."

"The same should be said for you, O'Hehir. Stop takin' everything and puttin' them on your plate."

"I'll stay back. You two have fun with your folks."

"Out of the question, Dae-hyun. I said all of ya three."

"It's alright. I told Soo-Jin to go first with the children. I'll meet them before the countdown."

The conversation of four had softened the further Iria walked away from the room.

She missed those kind of talks - before she became the boss. The days she spent as a virologist...

They seemed more merry back then. Amusingly humorous under harsh conditions but Iria admitted to herself. Those times were a bit better.

"This is absurd! Where is McLenlan! ? I want to see her at once!"

The holler from across the series of halls had snapped her out of her jumbled thoughts. Concern urged her feet to follow after the voice, as much as she wanted to turn in the opposite way.

Sure enough, the official was bellowing with a viper's tongue, angry that its prey had dodged its fangs and already prepared to send them on the frightened animals in white coats surrounding him.

"What is it?" she calmly demanded.

Krauss, quickly noticing the blonde, stomped angrily. "Explain yourself! What is that project in that room for! ?"

Her eyebrows knitted together out of confusion. "I already told you. That is a side project-"

"Don't take me for a fool! That is where the t-Veronica specimen is, isn't it! ?"

Oh.

So he found out. Or prompted someone to spill the beans for him.

"Tell me exactly what that project is! Why Mr. Wesker had decided to terminate the t-Veronica cultivation! ? Do you know how much money we could lose from this one alteration! ? We can lose third of our investors!"

She heaved a heavy sigh. The start of a migraine was snaking its way into her head. "We have collected enough samples to mass-produce the virus outside of the host. There was no need to continue and hence, Wesker wanted to take to the next level on the specimen."

"Next level! ? That was a one of a kind! And you!" A finger jerked right in front of her face. "I've heard that you were the one who administered that little experimental serum! You should have declined and informed the company immediately!"

So now the blame game. And now the migraine was building up by the itching, scratching racket that slowly surfaced in her ears.

No. Inside the back of her skull.

There was one drawback to her little gift of perception. That was why she also called it a curse. Just as the gears went to gather information rapidly from examining her surroundings, the gears were put on overdrive to find a solution to the man's outbursts - something to deafen down his voice.

But all her mind was receiving was nothing but noise.

Irritating, mind-numbing noise.

That was why people were unpredictable to her. That was why she didn't open up her circle to everyone.

It was too much work, trying to understand human nature. Disagreements, opinions that conflicted with others, ethics, politics, theology. Judgment too quick in hammering down before all the evidence could be laid out. A means to throw oil and fire into society's thinking whenever one's presence was threatened. All because they wouldn't agree if they were not right.

It was all about survival of the fittest. Iria just didn't know how to counter in order to survive.

"I followed orders. If you have a problem with this, discuss it with Wesker. You can find him on this island if you wish to make a meeting with-"

"Don't turn this around. This falls under your responsibility, McLenlan! You have made that specimen useless! You do not have the decision to change procedure on any important developments without the company's accord!" Krauss barked. He soured his mouth into a disappointed glower. "It was a mistake of Wesker to appoint you as director. Should have expected little out of the sister of Carme McLenlan."

And that was enough. He pulled at the one topic he wasn't supposed to say.

The noise was at its most unbearable.

"Here, I thought you were like Carme. All that talk about you following in her footsteps, pushing this project to great success with a mind like hers. But I can see it clearly that you are second best. The CEOs and Wesker shouldn't have put so much high hope on you. Better yet, if Carme had survived that car crash, she'd make a better director than you."

Krauss was too obsessed in his anger to notice the subtle changes.

Trembling, curled up fists. Angry hazel eyes. Grinding teeth inside a closed mouth, a thinly squeezed frown painted across it. The more he mocked at her, using her own sister as ammo, the more the noise in her head became fuzzier and fuzzier - his voice almost being inaudible.

Until she snapped.

"Shut up, you _carallo_."

The insult, soft as snow but fatal as venom, caught Krauss by surprise. Moreover, the last word was foreign to him, itching into an obvious dislike of his.

If anything, calling a person like him that was tasteful to her.

Iria had grown up with a foul mouth, thanks to her mother, born and raised in Galicia, Spain. Curses spewed out from honesty. Yes, she had been scolded for following that example.

But today, she had enough of this show.

"You _**do not**_ know my sister. So shut your mouth."

"W-What? What was that just now?" Krauss hissed. "You have the gall to speak to me like that? You should take back what you said, McLenlan."

It was a warning tone but Iria didn't budged.

"Ah. I see." With a smirk, he glared at her. "You were always jealous of her, weren't you?"

 _Thud!_

Hands launched on the folds of his suit, smashing his body into the wall. Dark hazel eyes daggered deep at him with the intent to silence him.

Again, he was taken aback. The attack frightened him even. Sweat began to bead down his forehead. He could have easily rebuke back, a man taller and stronger than she was but that expression numbed his muscles to do anything.

She was very much close to the edge.

"Do. _**NOT**_. Talk about her," she warned.

That was another thing Iria hated the most.

People assuming she was envious of her dead sister.

They were wrong.

She unhooked herself off the scared official but her gaze stayed cold and murderous on him. "You have overstepped your visit. Leave. Now."

It took a moment for him to regain back his composure and once it did, rage swelled up in him. In a frantic, terrified effort, he ran his hands across his suit as if to wipe some invisible stain Iria left on the fabric. "You... How dare you! You, you insolent spicracker!"

That was the best he could pull? A racist word?

How pathetic.

"The board will hear about this! About the cancellation and certainly about you! I'll make sure you will be demoted down to cleaning up BOWs' shit, you bitch!"

Iria remained unmoved. Threats were blunt to her and seeing no reaction all the more irritated Krauss.

"Go right ahead," she hissed, a deliberate pause in between each word.

There was no victory Krauss was finding out of this verbal battle. It was certainly and almost sending him into a visible state of paranoia and fury. Someone, even of a mixed heritage, had belittled him.

"Ogata," Iria called out to a scientist, a Japanese from the biochemistry quadrant, standing by. "Please call security to escort Mr. Krauss back to the surface."

"Ah. Y-Yes."

"You..." Krauss growled through his teeth. He had never felt insulted, embarrassed. But he was also helpless. Miles and miles away from the building in USA and the bosses weren't here to back him up.

So the only move he could do was surrender. Just this once.

"This is not over yet, McLenlan," he spat but it barely affected the woman. "Be ready to have your title revoked and pack your things up. Better yet, be prepared to be one of these specimens as well!"

Krauss took off, marching away.

Iria didn't care anymore.

It was a meaningless, baseless threat that didn't even fickle a spark of fear into her. There was nothing a hot shot like him could do to take her down. Maybe her title but to toss her into the same glass chamber with the virus, she knew too well the outcome. His outburst had been recorded under GAIAN's eyes anyway.

She was just too _valuable_ to be exposed. All because of her reputation and skills.

It only boiled her up from the inside even more.

She was sick and tired. Of the man. Of the pressure. Of keeping up the charade. Of everything.

The last string of her enduring tolerance had pulled, stretched and nearly torn. She didn't care of the sea of eyes on her, watching this stupid mask she had been wearing since this job fell into her lap, crack open.

 _No more._

" _ **Get back to work!**_ "

Rarely. Very rarely, Iria had ever raised her voice at home and at work. Much rarer had she ever stepped forth as an angry director. But the volume showed business; it whipped everyone back to shape like frightened mice. Hurry back into their workplaces and pretend this never happened.

No one talked to the fuming woman, who was already heading to her only last resort for peace all the way in the far westward side of the floor.

It wasn't the break room. It wasn't the locker room. It was HELIX's cruel joke into the architecture as a constant reminder to their employees that in this beautiful island, they were the company's prisoners in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

She rammed her way through the doors, hit by the bright radiant blue shimmers stretched across the large observatory deck. Unbreakable glass held back gallons and galloons of seawater from flooding into the lower levels - not even a bullet could shatter the panels.

A hypnotizing sanctuary within the sea, too far away from the fish-inhabited coral reefs or the tall kelp forest. Not even the sunset rays could penetrate down to the depths.

Best of all, there was nothing but silence.

Iria took no hesitation to sit down at her usual spot on one of the cushioned benches, resting her head in her hands.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Let her stay here. Let all that jumble and static gully out of her mind.

Let her be in peace for a moment...

She lost track of time. Like always. Sometimes as short as fifteen minutes. Even longer than two hours.

"Saw that gasket early, Iria."

The unruffled-toned voice seeped together with the tranquillity. Because it was familiar. But Iria did not object to the intruder's presence, even when the dark brown-haired tall man sat next her.

Gordon Vaux. Associate Director of microbiology.

"I thought you wouldn't talk to me."

He scowled regretfully. He had indeed made that clear a week ago.

Gordon sighed heavily. "Stupidest idea to do to my own boss."

"Vaux, please. We've worked together since the start. You don't call have to call me boss."

"I know. Force of habit." He shrugged his shoulders. "Just as you are still calling me Vaux after all these years."

A soft smile cracked weakly. Yes, Iria really should stop doing that - he was no longer her senior ever since she was given the seat of the director. Force of habit, indeed.

"Besides, I can't avoid you forever... And clearly, you need someone to lend an ear."

Her smile washed away. "...I went behind your back for my own selfishness. I took your serum and used it on the t-Veronica specimen... You shouldn't talk to a backstabber like me."

"A pretty, smart lady like you? Well, after a week, you just forget about the bad things and move on. No good having an unhealthy grudge."

Iria chuckled lightly and seeing that brought out a wrinkled smile on Gordon. However, it dispersed quickly.

"I've heard from Prasad... The deal Wesker made with you..."

He read the signs no matter how hard she tried to hide the hatred seeping out - her hands dug into her elbows as she bit heavily on her lips.

That man in black really pissed her off...

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She didn't reply straight away, staring at the bright deep blue before her before she finally glanced at him, eye to eye.

"Would you have forgiven me if I had told you?"

Gordon didn't show resentment or conflict. He should have, Iria thought, but he simply fell quiet, listening. And the more silent he kept, the more it drew out her confession easily and with all the riding emotions.

"I was desperate. All I cared about was getting Hannah and Randy off this damn island. For them to see their parents again... To be far away from this nightmare..." She shook her head, more towards herself as the statement was only half-true. "No. That's not just it. I wanted to see it for myself. I kept telling myself that what happened to Raccoon City...it was just a dream."

Memories were flooding drastically, too powerfully for her to stop them all.

That one particular day that started shedding at her pillar of mental stability, already worn down by the death of her older sister, Carme and her brother in-law, Andrew, and the severing of the islanders' connection to the outside world, all down by the _generous_ HELIX foundation.

On September 22, 1998, Raccoon City was laid waste to a viral outbreak. Eight days and over a hundred thousand people dead, the once buzzing city was destroyed by a missile strike, wiped out from the face of the earth.

That was where Iria and her family had lived before the outbreak. Before the car accident. Before the funeral and the burying of two bodies in the central graveyard of Raccoon City.

So hearing that news muffled out from the break room's TV on Level A had stunned her so badly. She was only passing by when she heard the city's name spoke out from the anchorwoman. She didn't even remember what she was doing back then.

Gordon and Prasad hadn't expected her to collapse outside the break room, petrified and wordless.

"It's a stupid idea...thinking I could go back and find their graves intact... Everything about Raccoon City was a lie. Nothing happened there. Nothing was destroyed by a rocket. Carme and Andrew are still there. That's what I kept saying to myself just to stay sane!" Iria hissed.

He peered at her with shock, seeing her ground her teeth tightly, her fingers twisted into the fabric of her leggings and her eyes watering, looking fiercely at him.

It had been the first time he ever saw her break.

"That man...he used me and then broke off the deal. He said they were nothing than dirt. My sister. Her husband... I wanted to kill him...! I wanted to kill that bastard!"

There was sheer, bloodthirsty anger Gordon could easily see in the woman, shattering through her peaceful yet sharp-witted shield. He had known her since the first day of the orientation when the facility first opened their doors to HELIX's staff, both precedently and newly hired.

Right on that bench, he believed she would have killed Wesker.

"He took the one thing I wanted the most and smashed it right in front of me..."

Gordon had never seen Iria like this before. For her to break in front of someone else, see a side uncharacteristic of her.

But she was human. Just like every other staff inside these white walls.

"You still miss your sister very much?"

An obvious, silly question but the thing was that she hadn't moved on.

"I miss both her and Andrew. Every single day."

That was the truth. She missed their company, their laughs, their smiles, even the arguments.

She was never envious of her sister - in fact, she missed everything about her, even the little rival competitions they pitched at each other.

For six years without her sister, there was no meaning of being the McLenlan Sisters. Carme was no longer there to talk, to fight, to become better of a person, to be there when Iria needed her the most.

There had been nothing more than loneliness.

"...Go home, Iria," Gordon softly muttered, a heavy hand on her shoulder. "You need to rest."

Easily said than down. "...I can't."

His eyes widened but he quickly understood why. "Hannah again?"

Her fingers, tangled and fidgety, tightened.

Right on the bull's eye.

"...I got angry at her... It's a stupid thing." She hoped Gordon wouldn't persuade any further. But the silence was worst as she looked back at him.

He didn't need to ask but he didn't reject.

"...She found an old gift from my father... Asked questions about who he was and all. But I didn't want to answer them."

"...Because you hated him?"

Hate him?

She had never once showed resentment to someone of her own blood.

"No... Because I thought there's no point in talking about a dead man... I didn't want her to...to be learning about these things... She's just going to make it harder for herself..."

Another punch had been delivered to her, courtesy of HELIX. The moment she thought they had pulled out all the cards on crushing their spirits, they took out another hidden Ace - telling her that Seoirse McLenlan had unfortunately deceased.

It had to be another lie. Just as they _**regrettably**_ told her and her family Jared Blackwell, Andrew's brother, had passed from injuries sustained in Desert Storm.

But she knew that HELIX had other alternatives if all those were nothing but lies. There was no more hope for her outside this island...

One more news of someone's death and she was surely going to lose her mind.

"You have to talk to her. You're family. You're all that you have left in this world..."

She tightened her eyes. That was the one thing she had difficulty doing in the years spent on the island.

"She doesn't need me. She and Randy need her mother. I can't be my sister to those kids. I can't replace anyone."

"No one expects you to. And they know that. But you three are still family," Gordon enforced. "If you don't set things right, then those kids have no one else."

Seconds ticked by and that was enough to tell him that was all he could do, Iria stationary and staring endlessly at the blue nothingness. Knowing full well pushing anymore would not yield anything for her sake, he stood up from the seat.

She felt his presence waver further and further away from her.

"Iria?"

She feebly gawked at the tall man, standing close to the doors, a hand on the handle.

"If it was me in your shoes... I would have done it too," Gordon spoke with true honesty. "I would have done that deal just to get my folks off this stupid rock."

Iria said nothing in response - merely stunned by his statement. And she shouldn't be taken aback by an sincere, down-to-the-point answer. Anyone else would want absolute freedom off the island. Their home and their prison. Locked away from the whole world and nobody outside knew the truth. That they were alive, hostages under a powerful, corrupted company...

Gordon didn't expect her to reply and simply left her to think long and hard on his words. Even if she could have said anything, he was already gone through the doors.

And she was left alone with her thoughts in the comfort of the eerie yet peaceful and captivating blueness.

 ** _*/*/*/*/*_**

At long last, Iria finally pushed herself off the seat and left the serene blue-lit deck. But her next destination, she wasn't sure herself.

There was nothing left for her to do in the research level. She was a director - directors were supposed to sign papers, listen to the meetings and make sure everything was shipshape.

Leadership wasn't something she had ever considered, or expected it to be very tiring. Suffocating.

Iria strolled to the central elevator and hit the button. Might as well leave this floor.

As she waited, she brought up the brown leather watch across her wrist closely to her and out of habit, fiddled with the screw.

The arrows had stopped moving a long time ago. The gears were out of place, their clanking inside replacing the softened tick tock tick tock. The leather belt was starting to wear at the edges and the threads a bit unwinding here and there. The glass was still as cracked as the day it was broken. It never told her the current time, but it told her the exact time, hour, minute and second the previous holder died.

It was a silly little habit, twirling the knot and the watch wouldn't move. But it made her contented.

Less alone.

After all, this was her saudade.

Another sigh from her dry lips, that she prompted herself to roll them inwards to her tongue.

If this was a normal day, she would be driving down the lightly-snowed road to that suburban house with a garden and a clubhouse still being built, to spend the night. All because those two knew she'd be spending alone like always that they would usher her to come for these family events.

Her older sister, Carme opening the front door, smiling happily with open arms. Then the two in their cute little sweaters knitted by Andrew's mother would be rushing with giggles at their aunt's arrival and sparkling eyes hungry for gifts. Andrew taking over the kitchen and making a decent meal, few burnt spots here and there. The TV on showing the New Year clocking down. And at the last seconds, she and the four would step out into the cold to see the colours flash above them.

A normal family celebration.

Sadly, it wasn't a 'normal' day. She wasn't in Raccoon City, before 1995. This was the grim present she was trapped in.

 _Ding!_

Again, she was distracted to her bundle of thoughts that her senses were delayed. Regardless, she snapped out quick enough to hurry into the elevator just before the doors would close on her.

And at last, at the light hit of the top button, the soothing silence and humming settled down her nerves. Her body easily flung back to the wall at the welcoming. Serenity - not as powerfully breathtaking as the observatory but the time spent inside this small metal box seemed to give enough mental relief before she would step off to any of the floors.

Iria dug into one of her pocket and flipped open her phone.

One new message. Came an hour ago.

 _Beep!_

 _It's a little early but Happy New Year 2001, Aunt Iria!_

 _I'll cya tmr._

"Oh, Randy," she uttered gladly but felt her heart break before she even decided to text back. Another stab into it from the fact she hadn't gotten another message from a different sender.

Sadly, that one person had stopped sending messages to her, even whenever Iria texted to her...

Her thumb hung bitterly over the buttons as she tried. She really tried. Eventually, she gave up and exited out of the messages.

A pathetic excuse of an aunt indeed...

Eventually, Iria checked the time.

Ten seconds till midnight.

It took her by surprised that it was already so late - then again, she shouldn't be. She had been at much later times than midnight.

Should she go back home? The kids were surely fast asleep and even if not, only one would greet with the brightest smile on his sweet face. He'd be glad to see her but by the time she reached home, the new year event would be long over.

So was it worth going back?

She counted down the last seconds.

4...

3...

2...

1...

Happy New Year, 2001.

"Here's to the new year, Carme-"

Then all of a sudden...

 **VRRRROOoooooo** oooooooooooooooummmmm...

The whole lift became dark.

"What-?" The flashing of distorted digital numbers on the small black screen pinched at Iria's worry. This was something new, something different. The way the elevator's screen was fizzing uncontrollably was more like...

Like a computer glit-

A thundering noise, one she wasn't familiar with hearing, erupted loudly around her and nowhere as red light, one she knew the significance immediately, blinked and rained furiously on her. It was all too quick for her to register that her sudden loss of balance took her by complete surprise, adding with the screeching sound of metal running down metal.

It was all too quick for her to realise the lift was falling.

Even when the lift suddenly came to a complete stop by a brake, Iria couldn't respond fast enough to see herself fall to the floor, her head contacting to the grey reflective tiles.

THUD!

Iria's only reward for her fright and confusion was pitch blackness.

* * *

Vickie: Helllllooo everyone and OMG I FINALLY FINISHED CHAPTER ONE! There were parts I wasn't too sure and I'm more surprised I added a lot of details here and there, making this a long chapter.

But I will say this one chapter is showing you an side of Iria from the past, who she was, how she interacted, all that. And it's gonna be rougher after this point. :3

Btw 2 things. 1, I changed the year because I made a mistake. In my main fic, Steve was revived in 2001. I originally wanted to use the 2000 millennium bug as the cause of the sudden blackout but I can use other plots that caused it. And 2, there are some terms here that I don't plan to give explanations like I did in my main fic BUT those terms will appear in my main fic. Heck even the Hesperides will be a BOW type I'll be putting in CODE: Kronos. Of course, you guys won't be seeing Stheno there. That's the most powerful, deadlier enemy ever developed in the Kronos project. THAT'S WHY THIS IS A DLC! Stheno is that one special tough monster you face in the DLCs. So if those terms throw you off, sorry about that but hopefully, the explanations in later chapters of CODE: Kronos will help out.

Also, if you have read CODE: Kronos, you'd be seeing familiar names too. :D

Hope you all enjoy this long chapter! And yup, the cliffhanger too. I may take a while on the next chapter but I don't plan to leave it like that. I do also plan to do my next fanfic. :D Basically about Steve's experience after his wakeup. Anyway please, read and review and look forward to the next chapter!

PS May need to edit some parts again but meh.


	3. Chapter Two: Fall into Tartarus

Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Fall into Tartarus**

* * *

 _"It's simple, McLenlan."_

 _Simple? Hostia. That man wasn't making it any easy on her._

 _"Give the boy the serum and I'll let you and your family go back to Raccoon City. I'll even arrange a unit to search for the graves."_

 _It was a lie. She should have declined right there and then._

 _She should have turned away._

 _"You have my word."_

 _That wasn't enough. There was no way he'd keep it._

 _Her mind went on a rampage. What was his motive? He could have done it himself. Take that needle and force it into the vein. Didn't he have a medical PhD himself?_

 _Perhaps, he had no grounds to do the shot himself other than supervision. If anything, this experiment was outside of HELIX's control. It was more suspicious for him to stop the t-Veronica extraction out of the blues._

 _The reason to revive this host? She could only suspect one outcome - a possible candidate just like him. Someone in the palm of his hand he could probably call "pupil". But that was outrageous. What would he gain from reviving a person who had been dead for two years? Even under heavy cryostatis and with all the technology they had, it didn't guarantee brain matter being intent. For all they knew, the specimen would wake up with amnesia or worse, braindead._

 _And yet, her body moved on its own. Closer and closer to that frozen pod the redhead was in. Like she was possessed, chained to obey the words of a witch doctor._

 _Her emotions deluded the thoughts in her head, replacing them with new ones._

 _This was just a specimen. Just like any other locked up inside._

 _She didn't know this boy._

 _Boy?_

 _Was it correct of her to call this specimen a boy?_

 _She still couldn't forget what Prasad said two years ago..._

 _Her head felt awful, her gray matter ramming against the walls of her skull to find a solution out of this problem._

 _The rational thing to do would be to decline and contact HELIX. The irrational thing to do would be to tell him to do it himself on the spot just to save her own pride._

 _And yet, she chose neither because of how heavy her heart was_

 _No good. She was letting her feelings get the better of her and distort her thinking._

 _"What do you have to lose?"_

 _Lose?_

 _Nothing physical. Nothing of possession. But was she really going to gain that one chance she had been hoping for?_

 _With a mind of its own, her hand reached for the jet injector, already filled with the amber liquid. Again, she glanced back at the pod._

 _Lay out the pieces. What were they, she asked herself._

 _She didn't know him._

 _There was no reason for her to feel any remorse._

 _This wasn't her problem...whether he woke up or not._

 _Sorry, Kiddo...but she needed this more than ever._

 _She couldn't lose this chance..._

 _And Iria jabbed that needle without hesitation._

 _ ***/*/*/***_

NOISE.

It was very much different than the static previously drilled in her skull from stress but it was a noise that was stirring Iria out of the pitch blackness. Wailing above her.

Only now and then, her eyes fluttered weakly, catching glimpses of blinking red light across the elevator tiles. The ringing in her ears deafened the sounds she could barely make up in her lightheaded state: sirens, screams and...fire?

But again, darkness drifted her back down like a dive.

Like she was drowning.

One more time and the last, she opened her eyes.

It was a drowsy start, having felt like she was dropped from a 20-storey building. But as Iria tried to gather her scattered bearings, she noticed something glowing under the red light.

The light from her phone. Cracked at the screen. Somehow, she must have dropped it and the impact forced it open.

She picked it up, but not without some difficulty.

More than thirty minutes past midnight.

Iria had blacked out for thirty minutes. But it most certainly felt like an eternity.

Worse, no signal. She remembered very well there was a full set of bars. But that meant she couldn't contact anyone.

Did the servers from control shut down? Better not. That would mean the whole facility would be disconnected from outside. Everything would be offline.

Unless this was localised...

Standing up with her hand tight on the railing, she examined her surroundings. Yes, she was inside the elevator. Yes, she hadn't moved out of it but things obviously had changed. The emergency alarms were bawling out loud above her.

She laid out the possible answer: something happened. What, how and why, she couldn't answer herself because there were too many most likely reasons for her to pick - one she really hoped was least unlikely. For her own sake.

One thing she knew for sure was that she couldn't stay inside the small box anymore.

She pressed a button.

Nothing.

Again and again, with each hit gaining more velocity.

"Hostia."

Her fingers moved down to the alarm button, frantically smashing into it enough for someone up there to be annoyed.

Nothing but the howls.

Her breathing picked up a pace at the drop of uneasiness. Her heart was pounding heavily. She could feel the spaces crawl closer to her, the oxygen getting thinner...

Calm down. Calm down. Know your moves.

"GAIAN. Open Central Elevator D-4."

" _ID S24D1-45O5 X-3781, voice-command accepted._ " Hearing the AI's robotic voice settled her nerves down. The quicker GAIAN let her out, the faster she could understand what was happening. " _Service request..._

 _...Denied._ "

Her eyes bugged open.

What?

" _Emergency shutdown procedure RED has been commenced on 1st, January, 2001, 12:32 AM. Elevators have ceased service until curfew has been lifted._ "

Iria felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She had just realized she had stopped breathing at the supercomputer's inspection. Did she hear that correct?

No.

No, no, no, no! This couldn't have been a lockdown. That meant a specimen had been loose somewhere inside the facility.

"GAIAN. Open Central Elevator D-4."

" _Service request, denied. Lockdown curfew has not been lifted._ "

"Open the doors, GAIAN," she demanded, her tone rising, shaking.

" _Negative. For your own safety, please wait until lockdown curfew has been lifted and rescue is dispatched, Director Iria McLenlan._ "

Was she hearing this right? She was a highly intelligent scientist inside the box and that was the stupidest suggestion out of an AI.

"Like hell I'm sitting here."

Her fingers gripped in between the tiny little gap. It had been the first time she had ever exert all her strength to pry them open. The only thing she had ever picked up in her line of work were a pen and pad.

" _Please stand away from the doors and wait for rescue. Estimated time till rescue arrival will be two hours._ "

Oh, greeeeat! No way was she staying put, especially if a specimen was loose - unpredictable that estimated time would most likely alter.

"I'd...rather be..." she grunted as she pulled harder. "Outside this tin can...than be trapped in here waiting for it to fall!"

A groan echoed from the doors.

A gap. Yes!

Her prying quickly ceased at the whiff of iron and burning.

This was new and she didn't like it.

No, now wasn't the time to hesitate. Whatever was out there, it had to be better than being struck inside a small space.

With enough room between the doors, she slipped her shoulder out to hold one side back. Both hands on the other, she pushed and pushed until finally she heard a click.

The doors stayed apart and she glanced out at the bottom.

Wherever the elevator had stopped, it came at a screeching halt midway of a level. But one quick look, Iria knew exactly where she had stopped.

Level D. The research floor.

There was just one problem and it turned her insides bitter cold.

She had only just left the floor more than thirty minutes ago. But during that period, it had dramatically changed.

It was red.

The red lights spun above constantly within the white halls. No. The halls weren't white anymore. There were splatters everywhere - still wet. Ripped wires and torn metal spurted out violent sparks.

And the floors were littered with corpses.

Dead, motionless bodies.

They were mangled. Throats shredded open, intestines dug out, faces left frozen in a moment of terror.

They had seen something come towards them and before they could react, it was all too late.

Oh god. Oh god...

She didn't have to guess. She made a logical conclusion. This was where the lockdown was.

Her knees weakened like jelly, forcing her to drop. She couldn't tear her eyes away at the gory scene before her until finally, her stomach rebelled against her and the taste of bile hit her tastebuds. Whatever was left from her early dinner had long been digested, leaving nothing but yellow, bubbly liquid to choke out.

"Uagh! Gagh, gah, gak."

A few more heavy gasps and Iria bitterly wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Deep breaths.

Again, she took one more look.

This was no dream and most certainly not a nightmare. She was fully well awake in what could be considered hell on Earth.

Staring at the horrific backdrop wasn't going to change anything. There was no point of staying put.

She had to move. Whatever caused this massacre was surely still around somewhere...

Slowly, quietly and carefully, she crept out of the elevator and dropped onto the floor.

 _Splosh!_

Her whole body tensed up at the feeling of small little droplets on the skin of her feet. With a dreadful, slow start, she stared down to see her shoes dipped in a pool of...

Blood.

Someone's blood.

With a gasp and a skid of a newborn lamb, she wobbled back and put a hand against the wall to steady herself. Not too far was the source, a body wearing greens. The face, however, was unrecognizable. Features - eyes, nose, mouth - were scooped up with something irregular and jagged. Not by human hands or weapons.

Claw marks.

The only indication she could make out who this person was, was by the ID keycard pinned to the breast pocket. John Kloet, a scientist from the biological engineering division and surgeon.

The current surgeon doing Stheno's operation.

Iria had never felt so icy cold. No, that specimen should still be under anaesthetic. Calm down.

 _Calm down!_

This was bad. Her brain was going on overdrive. Admittedly, she had never seen the new specimen up front. Only from the papers filed up on her desk. She hadn't even gone to see the creature in its combat tests - it didn't seemed necessary for her to do so. Moreover, she had never been in a crisis like this before. So how was she supposed to think?

Stop, she told herself. You're going to lose it if you don't do anything. You're in danger and you need to get out of it.

It was hard with the wailing sirens but she tried to narrow down the bundle of thoughts inside her head. This was a lockdown. No way out: central elevators were down, vents were locked tight even to the smallest atom and emergency stairs were shut tight with thick titanium doors.

But she had her keycard. All she needed was to open up a way out and close it back.

It was then that she spotted something shiny on the corpse's open hand.

A scalpel. He must have desperately clutched on that knife as his only weapon. Useless as one but...

With delicate fingers, she picked it up. On a night like this, Iria was carrying light: she had nothing but her keycard, her phone and glasses. Not even lint in the pockets of her coat. So right now, anything as a tool could prove useful.

Still, it would have been nice to have some sort of gun...anything to protect her.

Iria glanced around. However, whatever chaos had gone through the floor in a matter of thirty minutes, it had turned it upside down. Each hexagonal floor were designed with halls that intertwined but now in front of the south central elevators, most of her paths were blocked by crimson-painted ruin.

"Ok. Ok." She knew the research floor like the back of her hand. Countless times of walking through this place as a virologist in the past and a director in the present. "Need to find the nearest emergency door... Just take it slow and steady. Yeah. Just like chess."

Chess...yeah. A silly way of interpreting her life and death situation...

Still, it would be foolish to rush down the blood-sprayed antechambers just as it would be too quick to move her piece across the chessboard. Didn't matter if the black pieces were in plain sight, she had no idea how to predict her opponent's moves until they made one.

The only difference between a game and her predicament was she had a choice to choose to play chess.

Here, there were no choices.

 _ ***/*/*/***_

The biochemistry ward had taken the same damage as everywhere else - everything that the remaining staff had carried were dumped at the blink of the crisis while here and there, evidence of something lethal had gone through the halls. But she was a little grateful to trot down towards that area.

The sudden fall in the elevator had kicked the wind out of her, leaving a dent in her head. No external, severe injuries she could see and she most certainly hoped nothing internal.

Still, the bump on the head was proving some difficulty in her search for medicine. In the dimness inside the rooms and the screeching red light out in several halls, it had taken a while for her eyes to adjust, even switching between seeing in light and seeing in darkness. Thankfully, the photoluminescent emergency lightings lit up on the floors and walls, leading her to her destination.

The sight of a few potted plants gave her a sense of relief. So glad for two thing: one, the linked cooperation between the biochemistry division inside and the botany division outside the facility and two, the legendary red, green and blue herbs that grew on the hostile island, Cape Inacio.

It had been a baffling discovery - finding three well-known species widely used in medicine to adapt excellent to the harsh circumstances. Moreover was how little their natural components remained unchanged on an island disconnected from the rest of the world for millions of years - since the prehistoric land broke apart. So of course, it was an opportunity the science staff didn't want to waste.

It was basic knowledge - even a virologist like herself knew how to mix and match.

"That should do it," she uttered to herself and screwed the small canister into the healspray - a authentic easy device for any household across the world, made by HELIX. A squeeze on the trigger and she was hit by the scent of herbs.

There was no such thing as an instant heal but Iria could genuinely feel the throbbing pain on her head lessen.

With that resolved, she walked out - not without two canisters prepared for later and a small little pocket flashlight.

She had very little choices of worming her way carefully through the large floor. Most of the R&D labs had been closed tight by heavy double reinforced doors - another extra safety measure. However, being that it was New Year Eve, many of the employees had already left their workplaces.

That was...a comforting thought. Less number of deaths...

Was that really comforting? The further Iria had explored, the more her near-empty stomach twisted. From what she concluded, the majority of whoever stayed back had scrambled to the central elevators but were easily massacred while the minority, well...three times, she had found a dead person sprawled at their workbench or sitting in front of the black screens.

There had to be a number of deaths a human would come across until it was too much to bear and already, she had gone over the tally.

The only thing to keep her sane was her mind progressing, swiftly noticing something a little suspicious the further she went.

The lack of bodies and yet still many volumes of blood, drag marks snaking about. This was a behaviour, similar to the Erinyes' combat training - the escapee had many surprise attacks, dragging the prey to spots where the eye couldn't watch its meal.

Enough. Driving her head to stop looking at the gore and look for a way out. Maybe even for any sign of life...

It was better than being alone. Because now and then, she could have sworn she heard some muffled inhuman cry far away.

Then at the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move.

She jerked back, freezing in her place but she then noticed it was going away, deeper into another room.

Another living person! Iria hurried after the silhouette. "Wait-!"

"Get away from me!"

Her whole body tensed at the sight of a barrel and her arms flayed up. A handgun. Luckily, the person didn't fire a warning shot right dead at her.

The light-tanned man, with trembling hands and large, frightened brown eyes, stood there with every intention to fire if necessary. The blue overalls, boots and cap that hid most of his cropped brown-blond hair told her one thing: he worked at security.

And a man trained to go through many kinds of disasters wasn't dealing as well as she was right there. He had seen things, leaving light mental scars that have resulted him to drop protocol.

"Easy. It's just me," Iria muttered softly.

The man took a hard, struggled look at her but eventually, the eyes widened with relief and confusion. "Y-You're the director?"

Iria nodded, assuring him she was no figment of her imagination. "Yes. You can call me Iria."

"Stop!" The gun hung back up, tighter and shakier.

"Ok." Her arms held back up and she stepped back. "I'm not going to hurt you."

It didn't convince him. Now she really wondered what terrified him to go ape crazy.

She had to calm him down...

"You know me. But I don't know you. So tell me your name."

"...L-Lucas," he slurred but the gun still remained.

" Lucas. Lucas Hawkins, right?" That surprised the guard. There was a sheer chance he thought that she possessed some telepathy ability. She did not. "It's my job to remember all employees' names... Look. I want to get out of here just as much as you do. And I can do that."

His eyes lit up instantly at the magic word. Like a rekindled ray of hope. There was a hint of inkling until she willingly shone out her keycard.

"But I'd like it very much if you can put that gun down for me... Ok?"

It seemed like the officer just woke up out his wild trance, glancing back at his raised gun dead aimed at her.

"W-What's to say I won't take that away from you?" he barked frightfully, jerking the gun as if making a point.

Good question. And she had a good answer.

"You could have already killed me and taken the key..."

The weapon still hung high up for three stressed seconds. Then it finally went down.

"Thank you," she offered and finally, dropped her tired arms to her sides. "Shall we go?"

"...Y-Yes." There was a hanging pause. Was he really that scared to budge?

"Lucas. How about we look for an exit?"

"E-Exit, right... We can take the emergency stairs. Past D-Lab 16. W-We'll need to cut through the research office to get there."

Iria stopped herself from uttering that she knew as he took the lead, gun angled down.

"Watch yourself. We can get into all sorts of trouble."

Now that was...peculiar.

All sorts of trouble? What did he mean? This was a lockdown for a loose specimen... However, she held back her questions at once, noticing the small trembles across his fingers. One wrong word and he might just pull the trigger and shoot at the floor.

It was a slow walk and it did nothing to ease the tension. Iria glimpsed around as they 'strolled' on. Smashed glass, trolleys of harmless substances and stored papers toppled over, more evidence that fear took absolute control on the entire floor.

At least it wasn't too critical. Had a part of the facility received drastic damages, then the underwater research building would timber down into the depths.

"This whole place is falling apart," she uttered. "What the hell happened here?"

"You dunno? One minute, everything was fine. The next came that blackout. Everyone waited for the lights to come back on, which it did. Then all of a sudden, GAIAN put everything on lockdown. We thought it was some computer glitch. Computers and drones started acting weird."

Iria recalled the strange digital shifting back in the elevator. Was it some sort of bug? Odd though since control central had just gone through their last scrubbing.

"If that's the case, GAIAN should have handle the problem."

"S-She should have. But..." There was hesitation. "I-I don't know... It happened so fast. Some...some monster. Killed everyone in the halls. Everyone panicked. And..."

Lucas stopped in his track. The trembles intensified from his shoulders as he darted his eyes to the wet walls.

"Ok. The faster we get to an exit, the faster we get out," she tried to reassure the man, which seemed to be working.

Actually, it was more for her part - she needed to remain composed. If the officer were to lose his nerves, his paranoia might latch onto her.

"R-Right." He walked on. "Shit. I should have taken day shift...would have been out watching the fireworks instead."

"Same," she softly uttered, feeling a pinch inside her chest.

Iria wondered. Was this punishment?

She wasn't a religious person but somewhere in the cosmos, someone up there had put down their fist on her. It was a running theme she had noticed in those movies, where an intelligent character in the role of the villain got smitten by a bad case of karma. All with explosions.

Yeah...she couldn't recall the last thing she had sat down and had dinner with Randy and Hannah... Even Christmas, she had to miss it all because of work piled up.

Maybe she deserved this.

No. Don't think that. She couldn't die. Or else those kids would surely follow after her. And that thought gave her the push to pick up the speed in her walking.

Then all of a sudden, Lucas halted.

"What the fuck did Carter go?"

Muttering. Two voices. Male. She heard them soft and quite far away. More people alive?

"Shit!"

Suddenly, she felt her body being pulled down.

What-?

"Get down!" Lucas whispered.

She didn't have much of a choice - Lucas was doing just that for her.

"This is bullshit. We should leave that asshole behind and look for a way out."

"Does it make a difference? All the exits are locked and unless we find a key, we'll just have to wait until lockdown's over."

Carefully, very carefully, Iria peeked at the side of their hiding spot, a pile of containments.

Two men. Armed. Panicking. One digging through the pockets of a corpse while the other stood guard.

HCF guards.

Hostia.

"Hell no! I'm not staying another minute down here with that _**thing**_! Have you forgotten what it did to Jack?"

"So? We just shoot the crap out of it. That's just a bug compared to us."

"A bug? A fucking bug! ? That thing supposed to have some new variant of that virus these scientists cooked up! A lot better than the one in us."

"Oh, shut up and keep searching. You're wasting time and worrying too much."

So they were in a pickle as she and Lucas were. Which didn't boat well for them.

Iria had no idea what the origin behind the so-called little militia was, other than these men, fused with the t-virus, had arrived on the island a day after their boss secured a place in the facility. Already, they took the whole place by storm.

Humorous it was that outside on the island, they happily pledged themselves as jungle rescue for the sake of the islanders. Please, these men did nothing but laze around at their bases, shooting at the wildlife. The only time they ever moved a muscle was when a specimen ran out of control and security couldn't stop it - true to their _**real**_ acronym, Host/Hive Capture Force. Not their fake one, HELIX Command Force.

A three-year-old attempt at changing words around from a dictionary...

"We'll have to go around them," Lucas murmured to Iria. "Follow me."

A change of plans, Iria didn't object and trailed after the officer down another hall.

"When you said all sorts of trouble, you meant them, didn't you?"

"The moment everything went to hell, HCF guards suddenly started killing people. It was every man for themselves." Lucas grounded his teeth, fighting every urge to slam his fist into the wall. "Those bastards... They shot down Captain Bentley...my captain, just to get his key. Then one of them killed two scientists just for fun. Fucking monsters..."

Now she understood... It had to be tough on the young officer.

So now she had to worry about the HCF guards _**and**_ the loose specimen. Ranks and positions were out the window and not even rules could stop those creeps. They were free of any consequences and their actions would be deemed as "accident" or "it just happened".

Their superior would surely sweep all of this under the rug, along with the dead.

Right now, they were their enemies and like hell was she going to come out into the light just for them to gun her down.

"There," Lucas uttered, climbing onto his feet.

Beyond a set of doors was one of the many emergency stairs, however locked down by procedure. All she needed to do was slip her keycard across the scanner and she'd be brawling her way up the stairs.

Almost she could her feet skip with joy. Freedom was just a click away-

"Don't move."

The back of her head felt unusually heavy, feeling heat brush against her scalp. Recently fired. She didn't have to turn to figure out what was behind her.

Iria had never been held at gunpoint.

"Shit-"

"You take a step and I'll shoot her right in the head," the voice warned Lucas. Iria could feel the eyes dance up and down on her.

A hand latched onto her shoulder and spun her around. The barrel drove pointed at her chest, the assailer grinning at her.

"Well, well. If it ain't the director."

Of course. What luck they had to cross paths with a HCF guard.

"Which means you have the keycard. Hand it over."

She took a quick glance at the name stitched on his breast pocket. Carter Trent. His eyes searched for the hanging card around her neck - which luckily was hidden behind her coat.

"Hey! Are you listening?" The gun jumped up to her temple. "Hand it over!"

She swallowed tensely. Shaking. One wrong move and she and officer Lucas would be dead as a doorknob.

Then she took the risk.

"Go ahead. You're only put yourself in a deeper hole."

Lucas glanced at her, stunned - "Are you mad?" was what said from them silently.

"What did you say?"

Iria bit down hard to stop herself from hissing or even twitching back, feeling a slight heat as the circular hole of the gun touched skin.

It was a gamble. Just as she'd put a piece out in the open on the chessboard.

"Have you lose a few braincells during this lockdown?" she taunted calmly. "Or have you forgotten GAIAN needs both voice command and ID?"

Carter grounded his teeth. Good, so he wasn't all just muscles.

"You need us alive. Or else you'll kiss your only key goodbye."

The guard cocked up an eyebrow. Suddenly, the gun was on Lucas. "Oh really? This guy's just security. What's to say I won't shoot him?"

Lucas swallowed. The barrel was very much close aimed right at the bridge of his nose. Of course, he was a nobody right now, easy to be wiped out in a blink of an eye. If given any other situation, a man trained in close combat would quickly disarm his attacker.

But he wasn't stupid enough to go against a HCF guard. Iria couldn't blame him.

But she remained still. Indifferent.

Like the threat was barely a scratch.

Perhaps because to Iria, he was nothing but an annoying pest to her, only backed up by that virus swimming in his bloodstreams. Perhaps, the stress doubled by her new state of affairs had finally pushed her to stand up against someone like him.

"Kill him and I'll break my card."

Both pairs of eyes filleted wide.

"Y-You wouldn't-!"

Yes. She wouldn't. She had too much to risk if she ended up dead.

But if she were to pick her allies, Lucas was her best choice, not a mutant in human clothing.

In a split second, she did find it amusing - she had been scared shitless in a matter of twenty minutes until she encountered Lucas, a living person. And she was no heartless bitch, as some employees spat behind her back.

Honestly, she didn't want to be alone in her escape. She had no other reason to bail out on Lucas.

Already, Iria reached into her coat and slipped out the card.

She bent it lightly in front of Carter's red eyes.

"Stop!"

Carter leapt one step forth but no more, all too powerless to stop her. A _man enough to be called a god_ , his boss called them. At his pleading face, Iria ceased her twisting of the card.

Hmph. Just goes to show, she thought, his men were still as spineless and cowardly as every normal human were inside this facility. Reminded her how close to the tale of Icarus, flying too close to the sun.

"...Shit!" he cursed. "Fine. Turn around!"

Ok. That should buy her enough time to think of a solution. Obediently, she did as she was told.

"You! Up front! No funny business!"

Lucas stepped a foot ahead of Iria and with a shove by Carter, they were shepherded closer to their way out.

An exit to where the emergency stairs were. No doubt beyond that, the flight of stairs were also barricaded. Very little room for her to do anything.

Except for the door. Which moved forwards, not backwards.

She wondered if she was quick enough to slip out and use the door to smash on his firing hand. But she couldn't risk Lucas' life.

"Alright! Now open it!"

Time to test that. Carefully, Iria grabbed for the hanging keycard around her neck and slipped it right down the device.

However, the keycard reader displayed out a very different word that she had never once gotten.

" _ **Denied.**_ "

In the milliseconds inside her head, that came as a shock to her.

She was denied?

Just as quickly as her brain rushed for an answer, it drew her back to the more crucial situation. And just in time to hear the man behind her gasp, eyes bugged out wide.

"What-?" He also hadn't expected that outcome.

But that also meant that Carter's guard was lowered.

 _ ***/*/*/***_

 _"Hold your arm up like this and cup your hand in the other," he explained, doing the same demonstration as his explanation. Didn't matter if he was doing all that in the open college grounds. He was well set on teaching them the basics. "Just think of this like a pulled coil. Push back with everything you got. You'll be able to stun them long enough to make a break for it."_

 _ ***/*/*/***_

 _ **Now**_ was agood opportunity to do just that.

Rolled-up fist in her other free hand and elbow right up, Iria drove it right at Carter's face.

"UGH!" The HCF guard recoiled back, his gun lowered while he reached up for his battered nose.

"Run!" she cried out to Lucas.

They made a dash.

"Rrrgh! You fucking bitch!"

 _BANG! BANG!_

Misses but she kept balling her way through the room. Her eyes were fixed on her one exit.

Like hitting the fragile white ribbon at the end of a race, she bolted out of the exit but not without a spinning skid and a hand immediately lashed on a bar. Right in front of her face was a big red button under a small glass case - every door of each lab fitted with its own emergency lock inside and out.

She flipped open the case and slammed on the button.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

It was already too late. Sliding down from the roof of the door frame was the heavy reinforced gate, metal and glass. For a superhuman underling of that one supervisor, he was too focused on shooting to keep a full sprint to the door.

It made a loud final clunk.

"Open up, you bitch!" Carter hollered and hammered his fist. Harder and harder. "Let me out!"

 _Crack!_

Right before them, the colour of blood smeared across those frenzied eyes, stirred up by the t-Virus and thirsty for Iria's neck. The strength warped by the virus in a being once human, she and Lucas were seeing it for the first time - every whack into the thick glass forming shallow lines and fuelled by anger. It terrified her, two timid steps back. If this was what a HCF guard could do off his leash, she couldn't imagine the capabilities of their leader...

The only thing that assured them he wouldn't be widening a jagged hole and frantically squeeze through was how very thick the protective glass was.

"I'm gonna kill you both when I get out!"

I'd like to see you try. But Iria kept those words in.

She was about to turn when she faintly saw something stir in the darkness, behind Carter.

He must have noticed her gaze. Both their gazes. Or perhaps he heard something. Because Carter ceased his banging and slowly wheeled around.

Iria couldn't see what exactly behind him. Whatever Carter saw, she couldn't see the expression.

Only the long bony fingers spidered out of the shadows and quickly wrapped them on his head.

She had expected Carter to shoot. Heck, even use his superhuman strength to fight. But in a swift move, he was pulled back into the darkness. All came out was his scream, higher and higher.

 _SLOOOSH!_

Red. The colour of red spattered across the glass.

Iria's legs folded underneath her, her whole body dropping to the floor, eyes unable to tear away from the dripping curtain.

"No! Get up!" Lucas barked. "We can't stay!"

"H-He got killed," she whimpered. Although the play had been obscured behind the door, she had just seen a living being be ripped apart. Torn easily like an insect. "I-I let him die-"

Iria felt Lucas grab at her coat and pulled her up onto her feet. "It was either him or us! " His hands tightened on the director's arms, shaking at her to get a grip. "You had to so we could survive!"

She did?

To survive?

As much as she hated that guard, especially the fact that HCF were untouchable, walking throughout the facility with heads held high, she...couldn't feel as if her actions was justified.

Was she daft, she hollered at herself. That wasn't a human anymore, killed by another monster. She shouldn't feel remorse. If anything, that man deserved it.

And yet all that blood...

"Now come on!" Lucas hissed, one hand still gripping her arm as he led the baffled director away.

They needed to be far away.

"Tell me!" he snapped softly. "Why is your card not working? Were you lying before?"

Iria glanced back at the keycard in her shaking hand. A cold shiver ran down her spine and the thick fear rushing the adrenaline through her body hadn't made her forgotten that one word.

Denied.

She was denied access to leave the floor during a lockdown.

No, no. That was impossible. There was no way access would be rejected using the six-level cards.

"N-No," she whispered. "It should have worked..."

The officer steered back at her, expecting it to be a lie. That she was pulling his leg about her having a way out so he wouldn't put lead into her.

But he stopped himself from snapping, from losing control. One look at her face and Lucas could easily read that she also didn't expect that outcome. She had honestly expected them to scram right out into the stairs without any problems.

Was something wrong with the card?

No. Impossible. Had to be that glitch. Or the scanner could have coincidentally been broken. Anything could have happened. They just needed to try again.

"Lucas...you're bleeding."

That surprised him, following Iria's stiff gaze. There was a burning sensation at his side that he hadn't felt before. Or maybe the urgency in his mind dulled it out. His fingers reached down, feeling them damp and when he brought them back up, they told him the story.

Blood.

Somewhere in his dart for safety, that guard managed to nick him.

The wound wasn't deep. Ok. That was reassuring. "It's a graze. Don't worry about me."

She didn't move. Was she traumatised? No good.

He didn't let go of her. He couldn't.

He could have. She was going to slow him down. There was all that talk about the director being very unresponsive towards her work, even to some of her employees.

So? That was just talk he heard passing the coffee break room. In a matter of their time sneaking around, he learned the kind of person the director was.

He owed her for risking her life for him. No way was he going to be in debt.

"Ok," Lucas uttered, some wretched attempt at assuring both of them. "There's another set of stairs at the other end. Maybe the reader was busted."

He hoped that. He deeply prayed that was the case. It had to.

"A-And if it's not working..." His mind raced. Come on! Always have a backup plan! "W-We'll go to comms. Call for help and barricade ourselves until help arrives."

Those two leads seemed to help Iria back to focus. Just a bit. Good, better than nothing, Lucas told himself and finally released her.

"We can do this-"

A shuffling sound brought both of them to a halt.

"Did you hear that?"

Lucas lifted up his handgun as he searched for the source. His other hand still on Iria's arm, he herded her behind his back. He was the only one with a weapon, the only one who could protect both of them.

"Stay behind me," he softly ordered. "We're almost there-"

Out of the blues, just as he wheeled away from the frightened director, there were two things that happened. First, he felt something wet. A drop on his cheek. And before he could even reach up to touch it, he found himself staring up front at what looked like thin branches brushing against his face.

No. There was no trees down here.

But it was all too late. The slender talons wrapped all over his head.

"URRGH!"

It was a horrendous scream, his body dragged up into an opened hole in the ceiling and dangling in midair. Part of it was from whatever had grabbed him while the rest was from the vertebrates in his neck stretching by his weight and gravity.

Iria could do nothing. She was seeing herself being pulled up as well because Lucas' grip was still tight around her arm.

"ARRRGH!"

Hastily, she pried the fingers off her and she plummeted down hard. Pain ricocheted through her bottom but her mind was all too preoccupied to take notice, hands moving on their own to scramble away.

"No!" she hollered, all drowned out by Lucas' last shriek.

And exploded out from the hole was nothing but red. Raining down.

Drip. Only the sound of dripping.

Please. Stop this.

Wake me up from this nightmare.

Then shuffling again.

It was moving through the vents.

No matter how much Iria hoped, she wasn't going to wake up. She was struck here.

She had to get out.

Move, she told her legs.

Move!

She mustered every strength to crawl away and once she felt her hands on the wall behind her, she hurriedly stood up, eyes still fixed on the bloody hole. Slowly, she felt her way across the wall for another door. Thankfully, her hands felt from solid to nothingness.

Rumbling and clanking from above rushed her gaze to the ceiling. Terror hit down on her like a nail and she scrambled as quickly and quietly as possible into the room behind her, shutting the door.

As much as she could, she squeezed herself into the dimness, wall tight to her back. Did everything she could to be small and invisible - that was what she hoped but a small part of her deduced she had little to no chance of survival.

 _THUD!_

It was loud, the sound of something heavy falling from grace and landing on the floor thunderously. And she heard it outside.

Like a shark lurking, its shadow rose across the squares of light streamed through the glass and across the tiles.

It was looking for her now.

Shit. SHIT!

Immediately, she clamped hands onto her mouth - hard enough to feel the nails dig into the skin. She couldn't gasp, couldn't speak, all too afraid that if she made a single small sound, she'd be found.

Iria stared fixated and terrified at the shadow. The head slowly swung left to right and right to left. It was looking. Smelling. Searching, whatever it was doing, it was hunting for her.

She must have done a good job at being unseen because eventually, the shadow dispersed away. Even after seconds passed, she still wouldn't removed her hands off her mouth.

The burning sensation in her lungs told her to stop and at last, she breathed with a sigh of relief.

No. Now wasn't the time.

With a shaky start, she climbed back up. Another exit. She had to try looking for another way out.

Eventually, her eyes lit up at the sight of an identical exit. She fought every fibre to bolt towards the door and bang the card through the device, terrified that noise would only draw the infected escapee after her.

Iria was scared... Was she going to get denied again?

Although she wanted to be possibly sure, Iria had to fight that urge to check until she reached up to the card reader. Nothing of external damage she could see and the screen was functioning well, reading out the word, lockdown in bold letters.

The first reader was busted. Yeah, Lucas said that. It had to be.

She waved the keycard against the scanner.

Denied.

"No," she whined. And tried again.

Same message. Denied.

"No, no, no! God dammit!"

 _BAM!_ Frustrated, she hit the reader but that did nothing to change the word, denied to unlock. Her eyes watered at the corners. She was at the brink of hopelessness.

Iria stopped herself, desperately calming herself down. There were still other ways. There had to be.

Lucas' words repeated in her head.

"The surface... I need to contact the surface." She put out the cards mentally. Her phone was dead so that was out. If that was the case, there was no point of trying any of the phonelines in R&D labs. She'd get the same result.

Going to central was out of the question. That was the most important place of the entire facility - three times heavily protected than any of the four sectors on the research floor. If she couldn't get out, there'd be no way she could gain access to GAIAN's core. She wasn't even sure if any of the night shift techs had made the same fate as the rest of the people.

"Security room."

On each floor were stationed a security room, the top levels lighter on the safety measures and the lower levels heavier on the firearms. More importantly, regardless of any procedure or lockdown, computers and radio should still be connected.

That had been Lucas' goal. And it still was.

It wasn't over yet!

With determination fuelled, she turned tail. Eastward, that was where she had to go. Her only choices were to go back the way she came, hitting at the central elevators or go to the westward and then down towards the opposite. After all, all of the floors were easily interconnected.

"Dammit! How the fuck this happened?"

"Why are you asking me for?"

The familiar voices froze Iria in place for a second and as looming shadows grew larger on the wall, Iria quickly took another second to duck into another room, turning off her pocket flashlight.

But she soon realized she was in a tight corner, no way out.

She was too afraid to take a peek. Try to sneak down a more careful path without being seen.

A glimpse of something shiny caught her eye. A broken compact mirror, spilled out by someone's personal bag. Like a mouse, Iria reached for it and rose it high up.

The two HCF guards from before... Dammit, and they were looking for the magic key.

They'd obviously shoot her down and rip off her useless card...

Right now, she was on her own. All she had was a knife and that was pointless. If she was even going to make it out alive and in one piece, then she had to improvise.

One quick exanimation in the room and she went to work. Her hands swiftly moved to the laid out components she spotted on a table. Yes, simple chemistry and an empty test tube with cord.

A little decoy bottle easily made in thirty seconds.

She knew BOWs. She knew the viruses. And there was one thing she also knew - how hypersensitive t-virus infected guards' noses were.

And once she was done, charily, she tiptoed towards the edge of the door, pulled as far back her arm as possible and threw the narrow bottle out.

 _Crack!_

"What the fuck was that! ?"

"Shit! What is that smell?"

Like hornets drawn to a smelly prey, the two guards with their rifles up high followed after the sound. Iria slipped out carefully and down the opposite way.

Looked like she had no choice. Guess she was taking the long way around, to the westward.

Then she heard it from behind. The rattling of bullets. Followed by two cursing and then dying screams.

Iria ran. She had already having guessed the fate of the two guards.

* * *

Vickie: HEYA ALL! I've finished my next chapter! :D And god took a while cause I was trying to figure out the gameplay. :P

Basically, it's a little like CODE: Kronos gameplay but as I said, mainly stealth and that you are only doing one class: interference (please refer to CODE: Kronos to learn about classes btw). Basically, that class is mostly in distracting and disorientating enemies away from the team. That is what Iria's class is: solely, you as a player are using every way possible to keep enemies far away from you as you progress with little sound and visibility. So kinda like the Last of Us and Alien Isolation.

Because you'd be dead instantly if you go trigger happy. And this is where the horror is at its gold, something Capcom should have tried. Like how they did for RE2 and RE3 with the main bosses and RE4 with the Regenerator.

Btw, while most of the recent monster designs in the last few games are awesome, those in RE5 and 6...meh. Didn't scare me much in the horror factor, like I was really scared. Now the ooze and that fawking revenant, SWEEEEET MOTHER OF GRACE, those were freaky.

Anyway back to topic, Iria is not a fully-trained fighter. Yes, she has learned some moves (this is something you'll learn about her backstory) but she's not that powerful like Chris Redfield. All you have is your wits. That's it. :)

Also, I enjoyed writing this chapter because I was getting ideas one after the other. Never knew how many dark turns I took here. :D

I'll be taking a while longer for the next chapters - mainly because the next one has to do with the enemy's final reveal (I think) but...uh...I've not decided the concept yet. And here's the thing, that BOW type will appear in CODE: Kronos in like Episode Six but I've yet to think of what they look like. So I wanna tackle this problem first before I continue. That being said, I may go back to CODE: Kronos for a bit to figure out that (unless you guys have some ideas, I'm really clueless at the moment other than this is based on the gorgons myth). Also, I am already planning out my next fic too. So it may be a while till I come back to this fic.

That does not mean this is the end. There are A LOT OF THINGS I want to write down in this short fic (should be about as equal to 3 episodes of my CODE: Kronos so probably 12 chapters only or less?) and I don't intend to leave it aside. So I hope you all will be patient until I figure out Stheno's design.

Anyhow, thank you very much for your support and happy enjoying reading this. Please review too and feedback is welcomed!


	4. Chapter Three: First Blood

Disclaimer: I do not own any Resident Evil characters or Resident Evil terms but I do own anything else that is original, Kronos virus, everything about the project and much more coming in the next chps.

* * *

 **Chapter Three: First Blood**

* * *

"This has to be the most stupidest idea you could have come up yourself, Iria."

It was tight, cramped and she felt like her oxygen was low inside the ventilation tunnel she was crawling in. Only the small ray of light from her pocket flashlight shone her way through.

Now and then...every sound she heard forced her to shut the light off and stay perfectly still. Minutes passed and she would urge her body to keep choice did she have?

The thought of meeting whatever killed Lucas within this tiny enclosure was never far away in the back of her mind. That alone was enough to water her eyes out of fear.

The rickety venture to the westward had been terrifying. Never once letting her have a moment of peace, adrenaline bursting in little jumps at every sound. And at one point, Iria was forced to crawl through the ventilation system in order to cut through an obstacle in the way.

What fine way to go! She hollered at herself in the head.

Well, at least she was able to get through. All thanks to a rugged, high tech electric screwdriver she found a while back. The paths she had tried to take were obscured by internal damage and lockdowns. It was only by coincidence did she stumble on a mechanic slumped in one of the smaller labs - in the midst of fixing one of the high tech machines. Dead, of course but in his pockets, he possessed the screwdriver.

She gave a mixed expression of a grumble and a sigh inside the vent. Up ahead of her was the clear sign of double-enforced, air tight seal. Blocking her way onwards the shaft.

No good. So Iria had no choice but to go down her left.

Not that she complained. If memory served her right, that would be leading into the west most side of the level.

The most dangerous and hazardous area on Level D.

Hopefully, she didn't have to go deeper. The moment she'd leave the shafts, she'd be right next door to one of the security stations. Not the main one on this floor but it was better than nothing.

Lines of light caught her attention. At those thin rays of hopes, she scrambled quickly to the vent cover and began unscrewing the edges.

She bit down hard, terrified that the soft screeching sound would attract the specimen into the vents. Once the last screw was off with a tiny clank, she carefully slipped her fingers through the thin gaps and unhinged the cover right off.

No sound. Keep it as soft as possible.

Only the sound of her breathing and the alarms.

Cautiously, like a frightened little hognose snake, she crawled out of the duct and tried to organize her bearings.

Yup. Just like she thought. Right next to one of the security areas. Though...now that she thought about it, seemed like a flaw in the architecture.

She pushed that aside with a shake of the head and stepped forth to the reader, already intrinsically slipped her card through it.

Denied.

It happened again.

She didn't know why she even tried her card again.

Of course. No access on the entire floor so no access into security. Which meant this was human choice; someone ordered GAIAN to completely shut down the floor. Whoever did this, she made a mental note to punch them in the face once she got out. She was getting very tired of that word, denied.

This was getting hopeless. But how was she supposed to get into security-

Iria then stared down at the scalpel in her hand. Throughout her trip from start to end, she had been clutching tight to it like a knife. While her mind had constantly pointed out it was useless as a weapon, her body wouldn't let it go.

But...it did give her impression...

She looked back at the metal box. A weaker design than the ones leading into the stairs. Easy to alter, easy to rip apart. Reaching up to the scanner, she jabbed the thin knife behind the metal box. With a few hard tugs, it was a while before the reader's screws jerked violently in their holes.

 _Crack!_

She had turned the scalpel into a lever and used all of her own weight to pull. Just like that, the thin blade snapped into two. Luckily, the top screws came off from the tug. Iria carefully snaked her hands behind the yanked box and with the broken blade, went to work - the pocket flashlight shining on the coloured wires.

It took a bit of processing until she figured out which ends connected to what. With a few skinning of the plastic, cutting of copper and careful twirling without electrocuting herself, there was a beep.

 _Ding!_

The door into security opened at her command.

The scalpel had finally reached the end of the line. With that she tossed the short piece aside and walked into the room.

She stopped halfway through at the stiffened air of rich iron and gunpowder.

 _Drip...drip...drip...drip..._

The chair in front of the monitors stayed facing front but she spotted the top of the head easily. The seconds ticked and whoever sat there didn't move.

Iria walked closer.

It was a security guard.

Dead.

Shot in the head.

Killed by someone? No. An odd angle to do that.

Then Iria spied the dropped handgun close to the guard's drooping hand on the floor.

Suicide.

Guess he thought there was no way out other than that. And Iria really hoped she wouldn't have to result to that.

She forced her view to the surveillance monitors, all nine screeching out the words "lockdown", and hurried her hands on the keyboard. Right on the dashboard was a shortwave radio.

Oh, thank god.

She grabbed for the microphone and twirled the dial.

Please, oh please, she begged and pressed the button.

"Security Room D-83 to Surface. Do you read me? Please respond."

Nothing but static. Not even a flash of a human being from the other end appearing on the screen and answering her.

She bitterly bit her lower lip. " Security Room D-83 to Surface. Please respond!"

Nothing.

It was crushing her.

"Please. Someone. Can anyone hear me?"

The monitor on the terminal, tilted, lit up. Yes!

Then the face that appeared on the screen completely shattered any sense of hope she had, her body running dreadfully cold and her smile wavering in a blink. Her grip on the mic loosened at that shmuck face.

He was the last person she wanted to see.

The person on the other end sat there with elbows on the table and fingers knitted together, dressed in complete black. Familiar blond hair, familiar black shades - not the purpose of keeping out the burning sun on the white beaches but to hide the truth. _His_ truth. The only one person she had great difficulty dealing with in the entire facility. Put her against a HELIX representation, a staff with a spiteful tongue, even throw her into the jaws of a Tyrant but if the chance presented itself, she'd drop everything in her hand and bolt from this man.

" _Hello, McLenlan,_ " he droned, a mocking tone she knew full well was seeping.

She had nearly forgotten he was on the island on that day.

"Wesker," she hissed through her teeth.

" _Really? You should be thrilled to be seeing me._ "

Nope. She was downright steaming from the inside. In fact, she'd rather punch the screen right then and there.

Relentlessly, the man continued. " _Quite the predicament you are in. It's a shame you had to be down there._ "

"Enough of your blabbering," Iria spat. "What is going on? Where is rescue?"

" _Now, now. Relax. It'll ruin that complexion of yours. Never been to an emergency like this one before?_ "

"People are dying," she hollered. "And it's been longer than it should be. Lift the damn shutdown procedure and send rescue now!"

" _I'm afraid I can't do that._ "

"Don't give me this crap!" Yes. She did. She snapped at him. All manners were out the window at this point. "I'm not standing around for your games!"

"And _I am not the enemy here, McLenlan,_ " he uttered, dressing himself proudly as a saint. " _Thanks to this little surprise blackout, it has thrown a wrench into the plan. Too many red flags all over the place that even our techs up here are having a hard time taking care of them._ "

"Then get them to fix it faster!" Iria hissed, irritated of his little spinning.

She wasn't getting any answers for what, why and how. And undoubtedly from this man.

" _Ah. If only it was that easy. GAIAN has shut down the whole level. And it won't go off until every single one of those alerts have been taken care of, whether by her or by any survivor._ "

Iria stepped back, despite her best to hide her surprise.

" _Yes, McLenlan. It's that serious. We need some human hands on the other side of the fence to fix the problem._ "

"And you expect me to do that?" she snapped, the question sounding crazier out of her own mouth than from Wesker.

He snickered. " _I can't decide if that is a smart thing to do or not._ _It's not a good idea for you to be putting your life in danger, McLenlan. You've seen it, haven't you?_ " He shuffled back in his seat, an elbow on the support and one finger under his resting temple. " _The escaped specimen? We can't just simply give a green light with it running around._ "

"Then send GAIAN to take it out!"

" _Oh? And risk losing it? I concur._ "

Her eyes filleted open as wide as they could go.

"You're taking priority on that loose cannon over people's lives! ?" was all she could howl, her voice tinted with anger and fear.

Just the way Wesker liked it.

" _The company have invested a lot into the new BOW type. More than a year of effort since we unfortunately had to destroy Medusa. You understand, don't you?_ "

She was disbelieving everything she was hearing.

" _Besides, even if we could detain it, GAIAN's having a difficult time with it. Seems like we've made too good of a BOW to outsmart an AI._ "

"Don't mock me, Wesker."

" _I'm simply giving you details. Not fabricating them. Stheno keeps on giving GAIAN the slips many times now._ "

It was hard, reading Wesker like an illegible book. Only half-truths and not a single slithering lie out of his mouth. But what was worse when he was absolutely speaking the whole truth.

She _**despised**_ him even more.

" _So as of now, Level D is on RED alert until Stheno's been captured and the other minor matters there have been resolved. A few employees lost is a small price to pay._ "

He was mad!

"You can't do that!"

" _Oh. But look at the situation, McLenlan. You, a director, are down there. You are currently not present to manage this delicate operation. Furthermore, you don't have the experience to oversee how this should go. You've never been a fighter. But me however? Don't worry. You are in capable hands, McLenlan._ "

All Iria could do was stare, horrified at Wesker.

She was powerless. Unable to stop him.

As he playfully watched the catastrophe unfold and bloom before him from above.

" _So I suggest you should wait patiently. There are plenty of saferooms down there. You'll do fine till rescue comes._ " He then perked up with a tilt of his head. " _Or...you_ _ **can**_ _fix this mess yourself. But I'd advise you not to._ "

There were no words. All Iria could do was stare speechlessly.

" _Stay alive, McLenlan. You are far too valuable to lose, after all. You and I know that._ "

Adding more salt to the wound.

" _Good luck._ "

And then the screen turned black.

"You fucking bastard!"

 _BAM!_

A fist hitting the dashboard was not going to solve anything. It was not going to get her out of the danger any time sooner.

But it did take some of the anger out.

She paced about. Left to right. Right to left. On and on until the third round.

What was she going to do?

The static was coming back. No. No! Keep it in control!

" _kst-bzzz-bzzz..._ "

Before the noise in her head could pull at her heartstrings, another kind of white noise drew her intention to her right.

On the slouched body of the dead security, a standard radio was on his lap. Left on.

" _bzzz-bzzz-his is Sergeant Swanson. We have people down here at Sec Ops Sector, some injured. We are in need of rescue and medical treatment. Please advise._ "

Disbelief hit her in one second. The next, she lashed at the radio like a mad woman on the verge of starvation.

"Hello!" Iria cried out to the lady on the other end. "Hello! This is Director McLenlan! Please respond!"

" _Miss McLenlan,_ " the voice spoke, holding stern in her tone despite the hint of surprise. " _What-_ " Before the woman on the line could continue, there was muffling and shuffling in the background. " _Now hang on, you-!_ "

Then a familiar voice.

" _Iria! Is that you?_ "

She couldn't believe it. But her ears heard it right. She couldn't help but break into laughter. Weak but thrilled to hear his voice again.

"Gordon, you're alive!"

Thank god, she constantly uttered in her head. Thank god.

"You're ok."

" _I thought you went to the surface._ "

She took a moment to speak out her words without rambling uncontrollably, as she paced back and forth, her other free trembling hand running through her hair. "I was in the lift when the shutdown happened. My card doesn't work. And, and there was this officer. And a HFC guard." She coughed, the words pooling out easily and difficultly. "They're dead."

" _Oh god..._ "

"I-I let them die... I-I couldn't save Lucas... "

" _Iria._ "

"I let him get killed."

" _Iria!_ " he hollered and waited, hearing no reply come out of Iria's mouth. " _Iria... It had to be tough for you. But you have to focus._ "

Yes. Focus. Just because she was relieved to hear Gordon alive, didn't mean she was out of the woods yet.

Then, she wondered on the spot.

"Is Prasad with you?"

" _No._ " A slight moment of hesitation. " _He's capable, Iria. He'd have gone to a saferoom just like us._ "

She shook her head, her hand tightening on the walker-talker. "...I'll go look for him."

" _That's suicide, Iria!_ " Gordon uttered worriedly. _"Look. We're holed up at Security Ops. Head there and we'll wait out till procedure lifts._ "

Her heart sank. Deep.

"It may be longer than you think, Gordon..."

" _What?_ "

"Wesker... He's taken it into his own hands now. He wants to detain the specimen without killing it..."

" _Are you shitting me! ?_ " yelled the woman's voice as she audibly grabbed for the radio and hollered loudly. " _That_ _ **thing**_ _has killed almost everyone here! By the time it's been captured, the rest of us will be all dead!_ _Call that bastard online and tell him to send backup if he wants it captive!_ "

"I can't..." was all Iria could mutter out.

" _What! ?_ " roared the woman. " _You're the director! Call him!_ "

Her teeth felt sandy from every ground.

BAM! Pain bounced within her fist. "If I could, this shutdown would have been lifted by now!"

Heavy breaths streamed hotly through her clenched teeth. Silently, she was hollering at the other person to understand her position. She was struck in the same level as they were and she could do nothing. Wesker had the strings this time.

Sadly, to the other caller, her outburst was only an excuse.

Iria listened. She could hear it. In the background, the grumble out of the other woman and the hard toss of the speaker, together with the screeching static noise.

Officer Swanson was angry. Towards Iria's incompetence. Of the whole situation. Of everything.

What could she do? She was struck here just like them. She wasn't some powerful entity. She wasn't some sorceress with magic that could fix all this in an instant.

Just a weak human.

So if that woman wanted anything to fix themselves, then tell her what to do.

As a director, Iria had tried. Made rational decisions based on the voices of other superiors and on the data gathered from the projects. Kept a cool head during the most difficult moments when choices were in the grey area.

This was not one of those moments.

" _Iria._ "

Her face zipped up at the sound of Gordon's voice.

Enough. Enough of director this, director that.

She needed guidance. Her senior.

If anything right now, right there in the security room, she wanted to be a virologist again.

"Gordon... I'm scared. Please...come get me."

She was letting go of her shield. A honest sign of weakness. And as the hanging pause behind soft static stretched on after that, Gordon understood.

Then far from the speaker, she heard. Gordon speaking out to Swanson.

The conversation didn't go well.

" _I don't give a rat's ass. I am not sending men out to rescue that hotshot!_ "

" _Fine! Then let me-_ "

" _Out of the question!_ _That door stays shut, do you hear me? And I'm not letting you waltz out when you scientists should be fixing the damn problem at the android storage!_ "

" _This is ridiculous! I am not a tech and you can't stop me._ "

" _Step out of this room and I'll lock both of you out!_ " A threat. Right at the dashboard, Iria was hearing this. " _She has to come to us! End of story. Tell her that!_ "

And then, silence. She could only imagine. A standstill between him and this security officer.

" _...Iria-_ "

"I heard... I heard..."

There was no way Iria could blame him. If anything, the suggestion of Gordon coming to her rescue was touching but it would be dense to lose their only place of refuge in the chaos.

She could almost laugh. A director, one of the highest positions on the island and she was shot down. Swanson's retort at her outburst.

Just goes to show how easy ranks could be torn. There was no such thing as free passes.

She knew that well enough.

" _Iria,_ " Gordon called out, rising Iria back to the radio. " _You are the smartest person I know. You managed to get this far on your own. Director or not, you can do this._ "

The encouraging words did calm her nerves down. To an extent. She was still terrified. She was still pained from the hisses and spats.

But it was a start. And slowly, the fear was pushed far back.

" _Be careful out there. And keep your radio on._ "

"Okay."

And even after saying that, her body refused to move. The fear crawled back. Just by a bit.

" _Iria. Be safe, you hear me._ "

The call ended with a beep. At that end, she kept the radio away into her pocket.

"Ok..." she spoke to herself. Some silly attempt at reassuring herself rather than listen to silence as she thought out her plan. "Security Ops. Have to go to Eastward then."

Would have been better if she had done that before deciding to go to the westward. So it was going around in a semi-circular labyrinth, towards the central rather than a much longer route towards the south ward.

And obviously walking into the specimen again...

She raised her hands up. Shaking. Visible trembles that have been there for a while. She rolled up her fingers. Tightened them.

If she was going to get through alive, she needed to gear up. Literally.

Her eyes strayed down to the pistol on the ground. There was a moment of hesitation - she had never used a gun before. Never once held a gun before.

It even felt heavy once she picked it up. Something she had never imagined to...well, feel.

She was only told about guns...

 _*/*/*/*_

 _"Have you ever shot a person before?"_

 _It was an honest question that sparked out an expression messed with emotions: shock and mild indifference. He then shook his head. "Not really. Most cadets don't get that chance in the field."_

 _"But you know how to use firearm?"_

 _He shrugged his shoulders at her sister, the next questioner. "Of course, Carme. All of us did."_

 _She slouched back in her seat, folding her arms at the answer. " "And they say this country was built on dreams and not bloodshed."_

 _"Well, history has proven that. Wasn't easy for our ancestors to get this far," he proclaimed._

 _"And yet, we still have the typical middle-class American getting his own gun and a pat on the back. We have not only USA but also all the powerful countries ready on a hair trigger at the sight of World War III. We might as well just declare a worldwide 'No Guns' policy if that's the case."_

 _"The world doesn't work that way, Iria." Always, the way his mind, his view worked. Differently from how theirs were. Behind that charitable and humorous personality was a part experienced, seasoned - knowing that there were more than two sides of a coin - whereas the two young ladies based their worlds on fact alone. "You can't tell nations to put away their guns like a drop of the hat when it's like having their arm sawed off."_

" _What's the harm in doing that?"_

 _"I have to agree with Iria on this one. We're decades past the last world war anyway. What's the need to keep on having the army? Better to just sign in for world peace and be done with it."_

 _He sighed. That methodical attitude these sisters had... "Ok. Say there's no guns. That doesn't guarantee world peace. Anyone would probably just go get the next best dangerous thing out there as a weapon. Nuclear war, cyber-terrorism, biological warfare-"_

 _Carme snorted. "That will be the day."_

 _His frown tilted in an odd angle, which made her apologise for disrupting his serious talk._

 _"The thing is it's not that easy for anyone to trust without having their back stabbed. And they're paranoid at thinking of that everyday."_

 _"We...wouldn't be backstabbers, Andrew." Iria's voice was a little frail._

 _"Of course. I know you two too well to not be backstabbers. If anything, I'd protect you girls from any sort of danger. I'd even pick up a gun if I have to."_

 _The grimness soon gave a bitter taste to the sisters. It was flattering, Andrew's claim but…_

 _He continued regardless of the silence as their answer._

 _"A single person can decide to kill another or take more than one life in one go, for their own reasons. A nation can dominate another to be in power. No matter how trivial it looks, people will take matters into their own hands for what they claim to be their sake', even to the point of sending young men to another country and fight a war that wasn't theirs to begin with."_

 _Again. This feeling._

 _This heavy sensation of dissonance. Of separation and difference between him and them._

 _At this point, someone could interrupt and shake it off with a laugh. Moreover, she and her sister would simply cut the conversation and go on their way. Human ethics, understanding of society, anything that was outside the scope of their intellect just seemed a pain to follow. At least more so to Iria than Carme._

 _But Andrew was different. In fact, he was an oddball to become friends with them - the sisters labelled by some classmates as apathetic sisters of science. But after a year together, they learned more about this man than they would like to._

 _Andrew was a navy brat, under a large family of marines, soldiers, the like. So the experience and the military path had rubbed on him since young - hearing stories of all sorts reaching from the first world war. But unlike his brother, staying put as a full-fledged cadet building up the rank of gunnery, he instead left the navy to pursue a degree in software technology._

 _There was another reason, as evidence of the regular stiff in his leg. An old injury that prevented the young soldier from his first dispatch into chaos - the Vietnam War. Perhaps a blessing - instead of raising up as one of few intelligent computer engineers in the campus, he could have come out of that with a shattered mind from too much exposure of the psychological pain and warfare._

 _But Andrew knew. Understood that side behind the wall. The two ladies, however, have never experienced such things before - the need to protect from danger of any sort. Their childhood was very much different than his._

" _The need to protect is deep in our brains and all sense of rational thoughts are thrown out in a peril. People do careless and rash things, both small and large scale. We're not as clever as we like to think."_

" _So you're saying if given a shove, we'd push back?" Iria pointed out._

" _Perseverance of oneself," Carme added. "Like an animal into a corner."_

 _Andrew only nodded._

 _"If I need to survive...if I'm left with no other choice, then I would."_

 _She and Carme said nothing in return._

 _Just simply let his words sink in._

 _*/*/*/*_

Iria inhaled and exhaled heavily. With edgy recalling on the steps, she clicked out the cartridge.

Counted the bullets.

Full. She slotted it back in and pulled the slide back. Safety on. With all that done, she holstered the pistol to her belt.

A few more pats across the dead man's vest. Anything useful she could bring along. The military fanny pack around his waist...

Then she noticed the gleam in a sheath together with it.

A combat knife.

Better than a scalpel. Quickly, she unlocked the pack and wore it around her waist. One quick examination on the blade out of its sheath, no dullness and sharp at the teeth, Iria was ready.

Physically ready. Not mentally ready.

She was still shit scared.

Iria wasn't a trained marine. She wasn't a soldier with muscles as thick as her head. She wasn't capable of some sleek moves with the blade.

But for now, she couldn't be helpless anymore.

Bite back to survive.

Another deep breath.

"Ok, girl... You can do this. Do it for the kids."

Still another pause.

Out of the blues, Iria slapped both cheeks and marched right out the door.

And then, she slowly made her way down the hall.

 _*/*/*/*_

She had only passed a series of rooms for the past six minutes - hopped through one secured door with the ripping of its card reader. No sight of the specimen. If anything, it had been all quiet.

Too quiet.

Good, right? Should it be good? The thoughts raced in Iria's mind, making it harder to stop the anxiety inside. After all, she wasn't a trained solider. All she knew was basic moves for defence. But the extension on her life might get shorten the longer she kept going.

Head to the safe area. That sentence repeated in her mind constantly, at least to keep some sense of sanity in check.

A wheel at the corner to her next walk down a hall.

"Dammit," she hissed at the smell of burnt plastic and the sight of sparks.

Water. Where it came from, she wasn't sure. But the internal disaster had sprung a leak spread and across the floor.

One step and she'd be fried inside by the electricity running from a loose cable.

"Come on, Iria. No way am I turning back now."

That was when she spotted a janitor's trolley beside her. Left unattended when hell broke loose.

And it was plastic.

Wheeling around it, she grabbed for the railing. It took some driving but she managed to position it like an arrow ready on its bow.

Then one hard shove.

She watched. Please let this work. Please let this work. The trolley went onwards, its velocity gradually dropping the further it went.

The hanging cable simply drifted onto the trolley just before the moment the cleaning cart stopped.

"Yes!"

A wary, risky, rather stupid on her part, light step onto the puddle and nothing happened. With that, she calmly strolled on, deeper into the facility. One obstacle done.

"This lockdown isn't going to come off until all threats has been contained, ma'am."

And another nearby.

Iria quickly ducked behind cover.

Voices. But the tone and the words told her not to trust them. Don't trust them like behind.

"We have no choice." A woman. Her voice deep, methodical, cold. A solider trained to act, to kill.

A peer over the side and Iria took notice of the woman in charge. As far as Iria was concerned, she had never taken down the names of HCF to memory. But on occasions, she had learned a few who stood out. One being a close lieutenant of Wesker, Severa Graves.

A tongue and glare enough to freeze up that woman's men into place and without question.

Six guards had been mustered under her command, already armed and taken control of the small section. One stood out the most - enormous in muscle mas under his tight uniform and over six feet tall, not too far near the coattails of Graves.

The more obvious thing that stopped Iria from slipping away was the rounded up group of innocents kneeling on the floor, scared and arms held behind their heads. Security punched down, scientists and cleaning staff whimpering and trying to keep as quiet as possible.

"Oh no," Iria whispered.

"We will have to detain the specimen from the inside if we want this shutdown lifted."

There were a few shocked glances from some of the soldiers but none dared to speak up. Not stupid enough to question someone like her, almost as equally terrifying as their boss.

"Where was the specimen last seen?"

"Somewhere in the west labs. We can't pinpoint its exact l-location in the vents."

"I don't want to hear we "can't". I want to hear where it was exactly. Find it."

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

"And when you find you, capture it at all cost. I shouldn't have to babysit you lot during this mission. Vandran and I will go collect Specimen k-V 001 in the meantime, understand?"

The kid?

"The coma guy? What's so important about-"

The lips of one private instantly zipped shut with the lieutenant marched right up close to his face. The icy cold glare and the brushing of her breath right at him.

One wrong move and he could be dead within a second.

"You have any objection against Wesker's orders?" she hissed softly.

A little tremor. "...N-No, ma'am. I didn't know."

"Well... Now you know. Any more questions?"

He swallowed. "No, m- ma'am."

"Oh?" It was a strange hum but he wouldn't drop down his guard at the change of tone. "No questions why he wants a little brat alive and unharmed?"

"No, ma'am."

"No need to be debriefed of the whole mission?"

"No, ma'am."

"Good."

A stiff moment of silence, enough to cut the air.

Then came the odd soft smile. Something foreign on the woman's face that it seemed like it took some effort.

"But it is puzzling why that man is so important, more so than you and me. Makes you wonder what goes in Wesker's mind."

"...O-Oh, certainly."

He could relax - just a bit - once Graves stepped back.

Then all of a sudden, she wheeled back.

 _BANG!_

The shot shook the whole room, bringing out gasps from the frightened group. Dropped went the HCF guard's body like a rock.

None of his fellow comrades budged.

"I, for one, have no need for worthless subordinates, let alone a probing one," Graves muttered at the corpse. "Use his body as bait for Stheno."

"What should we do with these people?"

There was no hesitation in her order.

"Kill them."

"What-?" one of the staff muttered, his voice shaking and his eyes widened with dread. "Y-You can't- You can't do this! HELIX will hear-"

 _BANG!_

His head flung back, the spray of blood, bone fragments and grey matter spurring out from a hole at the back.

More yells of terror out from everyone else.

"W-Why are you doing this! ?"

Graves stirred her red-eyed view at another staff, the very glance terrifying the human to be the next target for her temptation for questions.

"Isn't it obvious? Because you're nothing but hindrance."

A mocking answer that deepened her victim's disbelief.

"You were only useful before this shutdown. Now, you're only good as more bait," Graves pointed with nothing of any emotion. "HELIX will replace anyone of you. Just like last time."

" Y-You're supposed to be protecting us!"

A rise of the eyebrow. "Our priority is not ensuring the safety of you weaklings. It is to contain and control the BOW. Like I said, right now, you are nothing."

Everyone in the small group were baffled. Questions ran quietly through their minds but there was no way they could get their answers.

Graves waved a signal and the rifles lifted up, point blank.

"No. No!"

"Ah-Aghh!"

Stop!

But Iria felt so useless. So powerless, curling down behind her hiding place once the shower of bullets and screams rained down.

She had no choice but to let her employees die behind her.

The last shell fell with a light clink onto the wet floor.

"If anyone ask, say it was collateral damage. Report to me once the specimen has been apprehended."

"Yes, madam!" choired out her men.

Two sets of footsteps, heavy and orderly, marched away. Iria thought that was it. The end of the bloodshed.

Until a few more shots fired, making her jump in her hiding spot.

She didn't need to look back to know. How horrible, they were shooting at corpses. Just to make sure.

They were dead. Why desecrate their bodies?

Her hands were shaking. She was too scared to move. An inch away and for sure those hounds would find her. There had been stories. On the island, there were nothing but quick passing of complaints of them upsetting the citizens - making a point that they were the law, not the small station of police, not the security units inside the facility. Beyond the waves was a different kind of tale.

A few filed issues of one annoyed guard severely injuring a staff because they pissed them off. Worse was their frightening capability of taking down a BOW.

Staying was just as bad as leaving. Iria couldn't stay any longer in the same room as these monsters.

She stared down the hallway, searching for the best route, and took it. As quiet as a timid, terrified mouse, with the nervous scramble to the back of a trolley.

It was just slight touch even, enough for the wheels to shake just a bit for a fallen glass instrument to roll with momentum.

 _Ktink! SMASH!_

Her body tensed up instantly at the sound of glass. What dropped?

"Huh?"

The utter was faint but she could hear the swing and click of a rifle and footsteps.

Iria quickened her pace with great effort to stay silence. Searching for a way out. One wrong mistake and she'd end up in that bloody pile.

She managed to creep into another open laboratory and quickly chose her next hiding spot. It was only a fraction of a second that the ray of a scoped flashlight streamed into the room just as she slipped underneath a metal table, the gap just enough for her body as flat as possible.

Her heartbeat pumped loudly in her ears, the sound growing more and more as the heavy military boots draped closer across the reflective floor.

Then they stopped.

Turned around. And wandered off.

She had never been so tensed to the point of her heart bursting. And still, she wasn't out of danger.

Get out now, her mind screamed.

Carefully, Iria dragged out the mirror, arched to a degree where she can see the door. On the glass, she counted. Two far from the pack. Pattern on their search was wavering away from where she hid. Good.

She made her move, trying to keep at both a quick and quiet pace.

How different everything was going. Before the chaos, she feared nothing from the HFC guards as long as she avoided them.

Now there was nothing stopping them from ripping her apart.

Closer and closer to her next destination. If she continued down there, yeah, it'd be back to central. But it was better than sticking around.

And if she headed there... Iria wondered. She could make her way to that med room. Just to be sure - to be absolute sure that room was empty.

Where Prasad was last seen.

Oh please, let him be alive and outside.

"Got you!"

It took her by surprise - the hushed voice, the arms latching around her and her body being pulled back, through an open window of a reception room.

"Gagh! Get off me!" She kicked and struggled, the papers and stationary scattering off below her.

The arms still stayed, getting tighter around her throat.

Cutting off her air so she could go down peacefully. Out like a light.

No!

Her hand grabbed for something and gave it a thrust.

"Agh!"

Whatever it was did the trick. Her attacker let go, staring at the combat knife in her hand and the wound in his gut.

His face told her that he didn't expected her to have some bite.

Then came the slap from the back of his hand in retaliation - too fast for her to dodge.

"Uagh!"

The world spun violently around her but somehow, Iria still kept herself on her feet. She touched the small damp crack on her lip. Brought it up to her eyes.

Blood.

She didn't have enough time to register once a clanking sound hit the floor and arms again wrangled at her.

"GAH!" she yelled at the tug of her hair.

"Hold still!" the HCF guard hollered, hunger in his eyes.

His error was failing to see her other hand, free from his bound, reach for a vial.

 _CRACK!_

Didn't matter if she could feel glass dig at the skin of her palm. Iria smashed the vial right into his face, like a punch.

"Gaah!" He floundered back, his grip released and his hands instantly grabbing for his soaked face. His eyes stung, his nose sniffed in the heavy chemical smell, his tastebubs hinting irritably at the small little drops.

Quickly, she scrambled for her gun.

"Ahh!" Her world tumbled down as her legs suddenly gave way, by the swing of the invincible superhuman.

She felt the blind savage climb up on her body but with every strength, she stretched out her hand on the handle. Tightly she grasped and she rolled over, pistol ready.

But he was ready too. Already on top of her and his hands grabbed for the gun. Pushing it down to fire at her face. Pull the trigger and she would be dead.

Then the push seemed weaker. His swollen eyes slowly wavered into a fluttering close.

What sheer luck she used a knock-out vial. Potent enough to make a man infused with the t-virus drowsy. Iria fought back. Whether it was the drug starting to take effect, she forced the gun in her hand to aim straight at him.

Her finger pulled.

 _BANG!_

It happened like a flash. Iria missed much of what happened, except for the large drilled hole opening up in front of her like a flower. Red sprayed onto her face, her face, everywhere. Bits of brain matter flew about, on herself, on the floor, everywhere in a frontal scatter.

And down the crazed man.

The fumbling of his heavy body drew out a shriek and the wind out of her lungs. Hurriedly, she shoved him and crept back, the shaking handgun still held back up.

Afraid he would rise back up again. Like those she saw in the videos.

Only a gaggle. And then nothing.

Dead... He was dead...

Iria's eyes couldn't tear away from the dead man. Even when the gun dropped down, the fear latched on tight inside. Nothing but gasps and soft whimpers out of her mouth.

Her knees turned to jelly and her body flumped down.

She killed a man.

Her mind laid out the cards again. That wasn't a man. That was an infected. A murderer. A sadist and a monster.

That was when she spotted it.

Crumpled, worn out from time, nestled halfway out of his unbuttoned breast pocket. It poked out, depicting an old small smile slowly taunting her.

Her mind hollered angrily at the source of mockery - it had to be a lie. But it was right there. The glossy material was wrinkled and real.

Why...why did someone like him have something like that so precious in his possession?

A family. A father of two children and a husband to a wife. Maybe dead, maybe not. And this monster kept it like a keepsake.

Why?

She quickly dragged herself away from the corpse. From the photo. Like it was tainted. Filthy to touch. Or was it her, the contaminated one?

No, stop. This wasn't a human. This was an infected man. A monster. Nothing but sick watchdogs happily leashed under Wesker's palm.

But no matter how she looked at them, the truth was there.

She killed a man.

She killed those children's father. That woman's husband.

Stop.

She had no choice. She had to shoot. It was either her or him. What choice did she have! ? It was kill or be killed.

Why was she having a moral battle when this was a t-virus infected soldier! ?

The static was getting worse as she staggered back, her steps slow and unsteady.

What was she supposed to do?

What was she supposed to **do**?

Someone. Tell her what to do!

"Hey! This way!"

A ray of light flashed, the painful sting into her eyes and disrupting the static away. It took her a second to glance up and realize the hunters were coming her way, the beam of the flashlight jumping from her and the corpse.

Run!

In her scramble, she leapt up, hand retreating back the knife she had dropped.

"Stop!"

She couldn't.

She wouldn't. One chance was all that HCF guard would need to crack her skull, maybe out of vengeance. Maybe out for blood.

Then why was she also feeling guilt?

Iria didn't stop to answer herself, even if she wanted to.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Central. She had to get to central.

That was her only thought, too focused for anything else.

"Whoa!"

She tripped. Over a body.

"Stay down!" bellowed the soldier, his steps and gun drawing closer and closer. The shrivelling director desperately tried to scramble away but with the rifle point blank on her, she could do nothing but freeze.

For once her mind, screaming for a solution, went blank.

There was a hissing sound. From her right. But that wasn't enough to stir her away from the barrel.

Yet the world erupted. In front of her. Under her. Around her.

The blast, the source coming from the depth of a wall, threw her further away. Shards of metal and blazing flames ripped apart the hall, filled with screams from their beholders being burnt alive.

Luck was on her side.

Don't stop.

She climbed back off her shaking legs, feeling the heat sweeping across her skin and eyes.

Iria turned away and kept on going.

Don't stop.

Get as far away as possible.

* * *

Vickie: OMG THIS TOOK FOREVER! I'm sorry to everyone that it's been more than a month(?) because 1, had been here and there between jobs and adjusting to some changes and 2, because I had difficulty in some parts in the writing up until now. Still, I'm actually happy of the direction I'm heading, even adding new characters.

And yeah, Iria can't get a single break. It's not like she's like Claire or Jill. Pssst! That would be too lucky. In any case, she did have some military learning from that backstory flashback but again, she only learned to an extent. The aim of this story and about Iria's incident during the first outbreak of Cape Inacio is that using a protagonist that isn't fully-trained, relying on wits. So hopefully I've achieved that.

Anyway, I'll be trying to get back to the swing of writing under less of a timeframe. It's still hard to write between Point A to B even if I've already planned out the plot. I'm doing my best to try and finish the next chapter of CODE: Kronos and get on with Anastasis so please be patient with me. Again thank you so much for your support and I do hope you'll keep looking out for any updates even if I may delay here and there. Happy reading this chapter and please review!

Also, special thanks to Fortuzula for helping me with the flashback, even though it wasn't much, it really helped me figure out how to pace the writing. So thank you! :D And to my readers, go check out her fanfics too!


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